Letters of the Laien
by Penna-de-Astore
Summary: Long after letters ceased to flow between them, Rhea experiences first-hand the pain that drove Ezio to the life of an assassin. With her pain comes new understanding, and perhaps a way to drive these two old friends onto the same path once more.
1. Rhea Allocco

**Author's note: the redo of chapter one is out :D! Now we may rejoice, chapter six is one its way as well but please wait it will come. Reviews are welcomed for old and new readers. Also I'm leaving chapter 2&3 alone cause I want to but still we have many adventures for Rhea and Ezio to look forward too. Oh and something cool, one of my friends got me into Mas Effect 2, so in about a week or so I should be getting the game. I've watched clips and I somewhat get the plot; but I am also thinking of writing a fan fic on Mass Effect when I'm done with the game and Letters of the Laien. Tell me what you think, see you soon XD**

The sound of clumsy feet echoed through the marble hall of a grand house. The house itself sat on a hill that looked over the Greek Mediterranean Sea to the west and the wheat filled fields to the southeast. The echoes grew more and more in ferocity as they approached the main stairs to the foyer. The person in the boots was in fact a young girl at the age of six; with short pixie black hair and light tan skin. Her bright ocean blue eyes gleamed with determination as she approached the stairs with each and every clumping step. The boots were her father's greaves that he had owned since his own young adult life, and since they were made for him; the boots bunched up when they met her tiny hips.

Gaining her balance as the first step came in reach, a large Cheshire grin spread onto her face, and she placed her right foot first. It worked and the young girl continued on to the second and third step; three down, thirty-four left. Confidence filled her entire being, thus her ego clouded her next decision. Rushing down the next set, the girl tripped over her own feet and began her downfall. The small child tumbled down each and every step till she came to a stop on the white tile floor; blood pooled in a small puddle under her face. The child sat up on her haunches, seemingly unfazed, and touched her aching nose.

It wasn't the smartest idea, the girl wailed out in pain as the broken nose sent the pain shooting through her small six year old body. She grabbed at her nose again to stop the pain and the blood that was dripping onto her spring green dress; again she let loose another scream, let go of her nose and begin to cry uncontrollably. The small girl couldn't hear the clicking of boots over her own cries, but quieted down when the person sat down next to her and pulled her sniffling body into their lap. The man brushed back her hair with gentle callused hands and observed the nose that was broken to the side.

"My god Rhea, what have you done to yourself?" The man addressed the child in his lap. He pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and dabbed away the blood that had stuck to Rhea's face. With further examination, he saw that he would need to take care of it or Thiea would have his ass for what happened to her daughter under his supervision.

"I tried walking down the stairs in you boots. Please, it hurts papa." Rhea sobbed, trying to push away her father's much larger hands with her tiny soft ones. The man gave a frustrated huff and looked his daughter with his own storm blue eyes. She stopped pushing and looked at him with her own puffy red eyes, her own blue standing out shockingly. Stephan re-handled the handkerchief and took a hold of her throbbing nose gently.

Mentally counting to three, Stephan swiftly reset he nose with a small but audible crack; and it also earned another set of wails that burst from the girl's small lungs. Shocked by his daughter's set of lungs, he held her tightly to his lean and built body as he wiped the blood that was left from the wound. Five minutes passed of sweet words in Italian to sooth his shivering daughter as she herself whispered many sorrys to her father in Greek and Italian. The man smiled as he held her back and stood up; his greaves falling from her tiny feet to the floor. He couldn't help but smile as Rhea calmed down, every time he saw his little girl he always picked out the two things his daughter had inherited; those blue eyes and the jet black color of her hair. Every other feature that made Rhea look like an innocent Cherub she had gotten from her mother.

"Now promise me this _la mia bambina_, I won't punish you for stealing my old greaves if you won't tell your mother that I left you alone long enough to fall down the stairs. Can I trust you with that?" He looked her dead in the eyes with his own, a smile of relief grew on her face as those tears stopped dribbling down her rosy cheeks.

"Discretamente papa!" Stephan smirked as he let his now wiggling daughter down and watched her race out the door. Bending down, the retired assassin plucked his old worn greaves from the floor and took them to his study. In this room, shelves were loaded with books of all kinds and scrolls from all ages before. Sitting at the base of a mahogany desk, a large trunk with its lid wide open; inside there were a few dresses, a packet of papers and letters, and now his old assassin clothing , armor and weapons. He sighed as he placed the boots inside and shut the trunk. Footsteps sounded as people walked into the room and looked at the man when he locked the lid and turned to them. Noting was said when the outsiders lifted the trunk and left without a single glance.

* * *

Rhea dashed down the dirt path from her house to the wheat fields, the more she ran, Rhea quickly spotted a brown haired woman among the crop with a few horses around her form. Giggling, the small girl tried to sneak her way to the older woman as she fed the horses grain from her hands. The horses sensed the little girl as she got closer with her hair peeking out from the grass; seeing it was someone they knew, the horse trotted away from their human master to go off in another part of the field. The woman, named Thiea, laughed internally. She knew that when the horses trotted off like that a small gremlin was in their presence; she turned and spotted the pixie black hair popping out to the grass and shuffling towards her.

Thiea snatched her daughter up and rested her on her hips; Rhea had a frustrated look on her face when her mother discovered. But it faded away when she and her mother touched noses lovingly and the older woman kissed her forehead. Thiea stroked the black silky curls, now in Greek tradition hair was supposed to be long for woman but Rhea had gotten her hair caught in a loom and the maids had to cut her long locks off before she hurt herself and the loom. The short hair reflected the demonic personality, and Thiea couldn't be happier seeing her daughter grow.

Thiea was an accomplished woman, she had her hands in both horse breeding but also a winery that helped sustain the island's economy. She was a good five foot four brunette with a temper no person could match, but also a loving person for she had her parents close to her even with their own disagreeing points on life. Her father was a famous pirate in these waters while her mother was the island's oracle, in all the family was interesting from the outside as it was from the inside.

As Thiea continued to run her fingers through her daughter's hair, she felt a sticky substance roll onto her finger. She looked down at them and saw that red had stained her tan skin: blood. Her face darkened, she knew something has involved her husband's negligence and ended up hurting their precious daughter; closer examination showed the bruising around Rhea's nose confirmed all of her suspicions. Thiea snorted and then whistled for her horse to come; a large and sturdy black Arabian cantered up to his master and nuzzled her hand lovingly. The older woman walked to the horse's side and sat her daughter on its strong back.

"Mama, papa said I couldn't ride Orion. He's too big for me to ride." Rhea objected. Thiea chuckled and merely replied.

"Rhea, if your father thinks he has the right to leave you alone at your age he is greatly mistaken. Besides he's not the one who decides how big you have to be to ride, I am the one who decides. Now hang onto Orion's mane, but not too tightly." Rhea nodded and Thiea gave Orion and small smack on his withers to send him off trotting into the fields.

Thiea contemplated her husband's punishment; then again nothing could really scare the man; well if you count out the threat of no physical contact for three months. Stephan would throw a bit of a man fit, Thiea snickered at the thought of the big bad assassin succumbed to begging physical intimacy from his wife. Stephan wasn't a big player like his friends back in Italy were like; in fact he was a virgin until he was twenty. So she didn't fear that being taken away from him, what he couldn't live without was the little intimacy he and his wife shared. It took him ages to woo the woman while she was in Venice with her father. No intimacy it was.

"It's a beautiful is it not _mio amore_?" A strong voice asked as he stood by his wife. Thiea jumped violently at the sound of her husband next to her out of the blue. She hated it when he would pop out of nowhere and speak to her; and over the years she began to loath that certain ability he was a master of. The again it helped when it came to catching Rhea, the girl would run through the house with no clothes on to avoid getting a bath and Stephan would have to catch her.

"It would be if our daughter hadn't gotten hurt. What were you thinking letting her alone for a minute? And please enlighten me, what did she do to earn the bruise that now marks her little nose?" Thiea growled as she glared at her husband with harsh storm gray eyes. Stephan sighed in defeat, she found out sooner than he expected.

"Rhea had found my old greaves and tried to walk down the stairs in them, but she ended up falling down the marble steps and breaking her nose. I swear Thiea, I was in the study for a short time." Stephan defended.

"Doing what?"

"Preparing our will." Thiea shut her mouth after he said that, it dawned her that life was short and that her husband was preparing for the worst. "I sent the documents and some of our important belongings to a chest for Claudia, her men came by today and picked up the trunk and it should reach the caravan in about five days. Look I'm sorry about Rhea but you know how bored she gets, I realigned her nose immediately so it should be fine when it heals properly. ". Stephan pulled his wife close to his chest, she listened to his strong heart beat as the sun caressed her cheek.

"Thank you for helping our little girl, but the stress of being a business owner is really getting to me. Plus your worries about the Templars finding us aren't helping. I don't want it to seem bad for Rhea, but it doesn't seem to faze her either." She sighed as she leaned her body into his, a perfect fit. "Though with her attitude, she might make a good pirate….or an exceptional assassin?"

"No," Stephan answered flatly, "The life of an assassin is not easy, especially for a woman. You know most of them end up being bordello owners."

"I know, but think about it." Thiea interjected, "Our daughter could change how things are run and make a new path for other woman to follow." Stephan sighed, and dug his head into the crook of Thiea's neck. "Just think, she would make both of us proud."

"You're thinking way too ahead for your own good." Stephan jeered and he quickly lifted her onto his shoulder and began walking to the house. Thiea burst out in a fit of laughter at his actions; she stopped suddenly when she looked to the western sea. Her husband stopped in his track when he sensed her fear, he too froze when he saw the red and white sails peak over the horizon.

"Dear gods, help us all." Thiea whispered as her husband put her down. The sails had the symbol of the Templar order in the center. The couple looked at each other with solemn looks, and the two parted in different direction; Stephan to the house for his sword, and Thiea to the fields to retrieve her daughter and to warn everybody. Her father and his fleet were out, so they were sitting ducks.

* * *

Rhea was sitting on Orion's back as he grazed on the grass, she was utterly enthralled by the view she had. But her mother's yells broke her out of that trance; she turned her head to see her mother run up to her with a young worker following in her tracks. Orion lifted his head and spotted his mistress run up to his side and helped the young man to his back. Something was wrong; the animal sensed it as fear seeped from the woman's body.

"Rhea, listen to mama. Let Angelo take you to the cove, wait till the danger has passed." She handed the young man a foot long dagger and kissed her daughter on her cheek. Tears began to fall down her cheeks.

"Mama?" Angelo kicked the horse into a run as he held onto to the small girl in front of him. "MAMA!" Cannon fire drowned out Rhea's tearful scream for her mother as they rode to the eastern part of the island. Rhea tried everything to hop of the cantering horse, but Angelo had an iron grip on her waist and kept riding on. Tears rolled down Rhea's slightly sun burnt skin as her mother disappeared from her line of vision and the cannon fire got louder. Emotions ran through her being as they rode on but fear took over when Angelo suddenly fell from the horse, taking her with him.

When she got up, she saw an arrow jutting from his chest. Blood was everywhere and was spreading as the young man died before her eyes. Yells reached her small ears, but the shock of death for the first time had her planted to the ground. Tears formed, threatening to over spill, but were stopped when the clinks of armor and commands got closer. Rhea looked to her left and saw men run up the hill, they had bows in hand and aimed at her thinking she was another teenager. Seeing that she was a little girl, the soldier's lowered their weapons and signaled for one of them to get her. Watching one of the men approaching towards her, Rhea finally managed to get her feet moving and sprinted towards the cove she was originally headed for. The man cursed and began chasing after her; unluckily the man's long legs helped him catch up to her, in their chase the man drew his sword and smack Rhea in the back of the head. Pain seared into her body as she began to black out and fell to the ground.

* * *

Rhea's head throbbed when she awoke, her head trauma and the pain of someone holding onto her short hair with their large hands made it worse and worse as her body started to register the screams and the smell of burning flesh all around her. When her eyes finally stopped seeing double, the horror was reveled; the entire island was either dead or tied up on the docks like her. Mostly women, children and any young male were on the dock struggling to free them and escape to the ocean. But the soldiers would smack and even slice at anyone who tried to wriggle free, Rhea was one of the few who got slapped for spitting on the men who got too close to her.

As the sun began to set, a man in fancy clothing emerged from one of the big house by the docks and walked with a large egotistical air about him to the docks the prisoners were sitting at. Six men flanked him on each side who had an air about them as they walked; Rhea could quite tell what it was as the men got closer. Her blue eyes searched around for any hope of her parents, but they were no where to been seen.

People tried to shift their bodies away from the man as he walked down the docks to inspect the different groups of men and women. Some of the bunches were taken to the ship, and some individuals or whole groups were killed on the spot with axes, spears or swords. Terrified people did their best to scoot their way off the dock, but the guards did their job by keeping them contained like scared sheep. When the Templar, as what Rhea had heard her fellow villagers say what they were, were two groups away from her bunch screams erupted from the exact house the Templar had emerged from.

The commotion grabbed everyone's attention as a woman was being dragged from the house. She was covered in blood and bruises, her dark mahogany hair losing its shine from stress, and her blue dress torn from mid thigh down and blood stained. The men who had a good hold of her on each arm dragged her to the dock for a strange reason. One of the men recognized the woman once she got closer.

"MISTRESS THEIA!" One of the men near bellowed. That started a chain reaction of dispute between prisoners and guards; people yelled for their well loved mistress as she was brought in front of the Templar. Rhea eyes widened at the site of her mother beaten to a pulp; bruises and cuts littered her once Godly body, her hair had been cut short by a dagger with unsteady hand. The frightened girl then noticed the blood that was dripping down her mother's legs, did they stab her down there? The intensity of the situation heightened to new degrees as Stephan was brought out next to his wife: he was in even worse shape.

"Care to reconsider your decisions, I could let the two of you go for just some simple information. Come now, what is the location of the Greek Master Assassin's, and the piece of Eden?" The Templar asked, his accent deep with Spanish heritage. Thiea glared at the man with as much intensity as the storms that would rage in the sky; Stephan followed suit with his own glare. The Spaniard chuckled at his enemies and lightly touched Theia's face. "Such a pity though, you have a gorgeous face and an enticing body amore."

Stephan struggled to free himself to kill the man who was touching his wife, but Theia beat him to it as she spat in the Spaniard's face. The man recoiled and went to back hand the woman, the solider watching over Rhea's group lowered his guard enough for Rhea to slip away and run to her parents. Her father saw her and immediately barked at his child.

"You_ idiota_! Get away!" Rhea didn't listen as she continued to run past the wealthy clothed man. Sadly, the man saw her and grabbed her arm, his rings and fingernails digging into her arm. Rhea yelped as inertia worked and had her pulled back. The man glared down at her and then smirked when he put two and two together, talking in quick Spanish two soldiers came up and grabbed the wiggling girl.

"Cute kid. She yours?" The man sneered.

"Don't you dare Alejandro, she's innocent of anything we have done to you! If you even scratch her, I will rip you apart bit by bit." Thiea yelled. Alejandro growled at her.

"Silence you tongue woman, actually let me help you." In one quick motion, Alejandro took a dagger hidden in his robes and slit Thiea's throat. The men holding the woman released her as she tried to cover the wound and spraying blood; her life force sprayed past her fingers and hit her daughter. Her actions eventually weakened her enough to have her body trip and fall off the pier. Rhea and her father screamed Thiea's name as the blue waters became stained with red. The murderer ignored the screams for the island's mistress and walked over to Stephan; who was giving his captors trouble holding him still.

"Kill him." The captors grinned and slit the man's throat in one move before pushing him into the water as well. Alejandro then looked at the now traumatized daughter of his now dead enemies. He only commanded that everyone was now to be boarded on the slave ship for export. Everyone left was herded onto the large galleon ship; yells and jeers at the enslaved people resonated throughout the hull as they were put in chains. Rhea sat in her own state of empty mind.

* * *

After three days after their departure, people sat in their own little groups. Men and young boys in one group, young broken women to one side, and the older women and children in another. Many of the young ones sniffled and cried for their lost parents and consoled each other for hope. Rhea wasn't one of these children, what she was for the past few days was an empty husk that would eat and drink every once in a while. Her friend Athena sat with her with an older woman to try to bring their friend back from depression. Stories, old jokes or play to the smallest degree wouldn't break the five year old out of her tight nit shell.

The men tried to give hope to the others, saying that the blood lotus – the pirate ship that the past leader of the island commanded- would have heard by now and would be on their way to give aid to them. But most people sat in silence and wallowed in sadness and fear of what was to come. Not with the rumors of where they were going, Africa; that word escaped the lips of one girl who earned a smack from the older woman by Rhea. She scolded the girl for handing nightmares to the children before turning to rhea with a damp cloth. There was dirt and blood encrusted on her skin and in her hair, causing the once bouncy curls to be matted and weighed down. Athena, a friend of Rhea's, tried to help but the younger girl fussed as they tried to clean the crap off of her. Finally after thirty minutes of attempt, they gave up and left the empty girl be.

Athena eventually came back to see if her younger counter part was doing anything other than staring at the wood in front of her. Still the same, Athena huffed and sat in front of her friend. Staring into dull ice blue eyes with her own emerald green. Those freckles given to her by Helios used to make Rhea giggle when Athena would make funny faces; but even with that Rhea didn't move much. The red head huffed and glowered at the younger girl, she just couldn't cheer up could she? Rhea heard the huff and finally looked at Athena as if she was there, Athena had given up and was looking at her dirty toes.

All emotion filled Rhea again as she finally and truly saw her friend; plump tears began rolling down her face as she sucking in air. In one sloppy but swift motion, Rhea latched on to her friend and began sobbing like the one her age had done earlier. Athena was a bit taken back by the sudden action but embraced her friend and patted her back. Rhea let loose all of her emotions and cried her heart out. Eventually Rhea clamed down a bit and glared at her feet, sadness was replaced with anger; anger against the people who hurt her friends and family, anger against that man. Those once beautiful Mediterranean blue eyes froze over to ice with an anger that a child could not calm.

Athena tried to get Rhea to talk to her, but had to resort to just talking through their hands. They made moving pictures with their fingers, eventually they actually began to reenact old stories silently to keep their minds off of the world outside. Soldiers entered the hull abruptly and began picking people out of the crowd. People yelled in revolt but were stopped when a men was killed on the spot for trying to save his brother from being taken from him. The Templars still had trouble rounding people up for inspection to see who would go to market.

* * *

It was a good hour before the children were taken outside with the last group women and men. On the way up, a little less than half that had gone before them were taken back to the hull. The sun was dropping into the west, the sunlight glittering over the water surrounding the ship. Alejandro stood with three men flanking each side of him as the prisoners were lined up before him. Sobbing and whining could be heard by the Greeks shivering in anticipation of what would happen next.

Rhea, Athena and a young boy were next to each other trying to stay together; Rhea didn't know him but Athena did so she was literally clinging on to him. The three watched as people where inspected, if chosen they were taken back below; but if not chosen, they were stabbed and thrown into the ocean to the hungry mouths swimming behind the ship. The screams those poor people let loose before going into the arms of Hades chilled everyone to the bone, and only got worse when it was children that were killed.

The Spaniard quickly inspected the boy Athena had a death grip on and pushed him to the group of prisoners waiting to go back inside. Athena whimpered when the man stood in front of her, he lowered to her level before standing back up and grabbing a fistful of hair. Athena screamed loudly as the man yanked her forward, he was testing on how her voice was. He laughed and commented to his men that with her loud voice, she'd make a good whore. Rhea finally mustered all of her fleeting courage, ran up to the man and kicked him as hard as she could. Alejandro released Athena and went to his side for his dagger.

The boy that Athena had tried to stay with ran under soldier's legs and went to assist the two girls who were trying not to get themselves killed. Some soldiers came to assist by grabbing the kids and ripping them apart from each other's fingers. The children screamed for each other as Alejandro unsheathed the dagger that had killed Rhea's parents; Rhea froze in fear as the gleaming metal came closer to her face. The Spaniard was angered and was ready to take all his pent up frustration out on the small girl. Prisoners yelled for the man to leave the poor child alone and to spare her life; but the Templar ignored their calls as he raised his dominant hand above his hand.

The ship suddenly shook violently, knocking people down and making Alejandro drop his dagger. Screams emitted as the main mast of the galleon began to fall to the right and off the ship. Soldiers and a couple of the prisoners wither fell off the ship or was crushed by the fallen mast. The children were dropped immediately as the men fled to the dinghies for their lives. The Templar looked at the kids as they huddled together and tried to reach their friends.

"Not so fast!" The man reached out and managed to grab a hold of Rhea's leg, the girl let out a loud squeal as she was tripped and was dragged to the man. The boy and Athena took a hold of Rhea's hands and tried to pull her back to them. Cannon fire went off everywhere; people were screaming in either joy or in fear that someone had come to save them. Another cannon hit the Galleon, which caused the kids to pull Rhea from Alejandro's hold and fall backwards. Rhea tumbled as the wood under her shook and groaned under the strain of the damage it was taking. The familiar sails of the blood lotus came into focus as the kids ran to the edge of the ship to wave for help. They were not seen for another cannon fire went loose and caused the ship to groan even more. The boy held onto Athena and tried to grab onto Rhea, but the next shudder of the ship threw Rhea overboard. The girls screamed for each other as one disappeared beneath the waves.

* * *

The water flung Rhea around as she tried to reorient herself around in the water so she could head to the surface. Turbulence in the water kept her from doing so until she was nearly out of air and a body hit her; when she finally surfaced Rhea clung to a piece of drift wood that was just big enough to carry her. Sniffling Rhea pulled herself up and tried to keep the droplets of salt water from hitting her eyes. The sound of cannon fire was in the distance and was eerily fading, Rhea looked at where the sound was fading and began to panic to see that the ocean current was carrying her west: away from the battle and her ticket home. The small girl screamed at the top of her lungs for help, but stopped when the air hurt her dry throat. She even resorted to flailing her arms around to get someone's attention; in the end she had to stop when the two boats and the explosions disappeared over the horizon.

The small girl curled up into a small ball as she tried to keep herself warm and brave, but the vast ocean and the cold wind that was signaling the time of night began to get to her. Shivering, Rhea looked around the sea for something, anything for a sign of fleeting hope to quell her fears. Nothing; except the sun that was sinking below the horizon and a spherical item that bobbed on the rolling waves. When the item came close enough, Rhea grabbed for it; she managed to get on the grapefruit sized item before pulling it out of the water and into her lap. The Clay item soaked the remains of her dress as she moved her salt encrusted hands over it. The paint was already rubbed off but the carvings that the artist had made still littered the item. She hugged the item to her body as she succumbed to a light slumber.

As the sun rose the next morning, Rhea kept to lying on her side; water would crawl up the plank and touch her body before reseeding back to its master. Though cool and inviting, the girl refused to drink any drop that came close to her chapped lips. Her throat was dry and her skin was encrusted in salt, she refused to move from her spot only turning to the sun wouldn't burn one side of her body. No food, no water, by the Gods she wanted to have her misery end; the pain from her body and her mind plagued the girl so much and the water was beginning to become more and more inviting.

Unconsciously, Rhea began crawly to the plank's edge as dusk came again. Maybe the water wouldn't kill her if she took one sip, let the cool water run down her parched throat. A small smile drew across the girl's face as she was close to the edge and readied to dunk her head below the waves. A large grey shape passed under the plank. Rhea froze and scrambled back to the center of the plank. Shark: that word ran through the young kid's mind as she tried to keep an eye on it. The thing began circling the only thing keeping rhea off the waves, a large fin poked out of the water. The fin was as tall as rhea if she were to stand on her toes. The pirate which called Rhea's island home had told stories of a child of Poseidon that could engulf an entire ship: Thantos.

The explosions must have caught the shark's attention and now it honed to Rhea's little life support. Tears rolled down the young girls cheek in fear, sure she was ready to nearly kill herself for water but this was terrifying. The shark descended into the waves and dived into the depths of the ocean to prepare a breech. Seconds seemed to be hours as Rhea waited for her impending death from below. The silence was killing, and waiting made it worse. Finally the water began to bulge and the plank was thrown into the air. Rhea screamed as her tiny body narrowly missed landing in the shark's gargantuan mouth and smacked right into the water next to it on her back. Pain jolted through her already worn body as water seeped into her mouth and the cool water pushed her to the surface. Spitting up that she could, Rhea waded in the water as calmly as she could. Shark, shark, shark, shark!

Thantos had slinked back into the waves and was again circling the girl. The said girl shivered violently as the sun was nearly departed from this world. No no no no no no no no PLEASE NO! Rhea wished that someone would save her, she didn't want to die and this was the end for her. Seeing that she could not do anything else but wait again, Rhea grabbed for the clay sphere that floated near her and held onto it tightly for dear life. The shark rounded and began its track to the girl, and as it came into range a light exploded from the item that Rhea held to herself. The light make the animal stop in it tracks as it stared into the girl.

Rhea didn't know why but she had to urge to sink her head under the waves. She regretted it for the thing she saw was terrifying. The shark's doll eyes stared into her own, mouth agape to push water through its gills and showing the millions to large sharp teeth it held. Rhea couldn't look away as the night finally engulfed the earth and the creature turned to swim back home. Her lungs screamed for air as Rhea pushed her head to the surface. The small girl's body was hit by waves of fatigue and pain as the stars began popping into the night sky; slowly but surely the soft lapping sound of the waves lulled the girl to sleep as she floated on her back. Before sleep over took her the faint sound of crash waves sounded.

* * *

Esmeralda watched as her pet dog romped in the waves along the Romanian beach. The caravan in which she traveled with had stopped this morning to gather supplies from the nearby fishing town as she was sent to just relax. Also, this was a good time to let the assassins-in-training to stretch their legs and let out some pent up aggression that boys needed to get out of their system. The people who head this moving clan was Esmeralda's mother and father; a healer and a retired assassin. And being their daughter Esmeralda had learned to be a good healer and a master of the sword so she would know how to handle herself and the caravan that she would inherit. Today was like any other day, the trip from Turkey to Spain was taking forever and it was boring to the extreme. And to even make the trip longer, Esmeralda's father had made a side trip a few weeks ago and had just returned with a trunk that they had to deliver to a man in Florence. Not worth the trip; in her opinion that is. All the girl wanted to do was to let the sound of the waves to wash away her stress.

The sound of her dog interrupted those calming sounds that she oh so wished for. The gypsy glared at her dog for barking but froze on the spot. The dog had come to find a small body that had washed ashore; covered in sand and not moving, the girl raced to her dog's side and turned the person onto their back. It was a small girl, clutching onto a clay item for dear life and she was still breathing but softly. Esmeralda ordered her dog to go back to the camp as she scooped up the small girl. She looked to be no older than six but weighed absolutely nothing in the gypsy's arms. Esmeralda took that as a bad sign along with the fact that the girl was barley moving; she hurried back to the caravan with the sopping girl moaning a bit and still clutching onto the clay sphere. A young man had approached Esmeralda and took the idea of carrying the girl himself, the gypsy thanked him and they both rushed to the healer's car for her mother's assistance. The healer took the child from them and shooed the older kids out so she could work. Esmeralda looked up at the young man.

"Thank you Abdul."

"It's not a problem Esmeralda, let's just hope that this girl makes it through." The young man named Abdul whispered. Esmeralda nodded and walked with him as he headed to the training ground to practice his free running.

* * *

The extreme stench of incense and medicinal herbs climbed into Rhea's nose as she came to. The smell along with strange warmth had begun to drag the girl out of her dreams; along with the change of touch from water to wool. Her eyes opened more and more, a light blue light filled the room in which the girl was laying in and a figure was sitting near her as well.

"Looks like this small water sprite has woken up. You were out like a log for three days girl; we were ready to accept the fact that you had left this world for the next. But then again the sea has its ways of effecting people." Rhea started at the woman in a defensive way. The older woman chuckled to herself. "Now don't be defensive child, I'm not going to hurt you." Rhea glared at the woman more. "Why would I heal you to only kill you, what's the logic in that child?" Rhea calmed down after processing that information. "Good then, I am Claudia what is your name piccolo?"

"Rhea." The small girl muttered looking at her tanner hands, the sun must have baked her while she was out on the open ocean. The healer smiled greatly and laughed heartily at the small girl, Rhea had jumped violently at the woman's voice.

"We had heard that your Island was attacked by the Templars, and when you grandfather had taken back your people you weren't among them. We thought that you were dead." Claudia explained for her outburst.

"Wait a second? Templars, how did you know about out attack?" Rhea yelled. Claudia face changed from elated to serious at the girls questions. The girl got shivers down her spine, a killer look; she quieted herself and sat nervously from where she had slept. Claudia took no time to explain every explicate details that the woman knew about the Templars. Rhea had made a couple of faces at some of the stories but only asked when the healer had paused. Everything; Altair, the other assassins and the old and new Templars were laid out in front of the girl for her to soak up. And near to the end of the tale Rhea learned of her father's true job. The six year old had froze when she heard this and stared at her hands.

"Now after tomorrow, we will have reach the northern part of Italy. Abdul will take charge of teaching you how to use a dagger and free run. When my husband leaves for Florence you will go to your foster parents are in the city as well. Child, your life has been spread in front of you, accept and move on to be a greater person. And maybe one day you will join us."

"'us'?"

"An Assassin child." The woman whispered before she left the car and out into the sunshine. Rhea sat in her spot for a good while before straining her legs to lift her tiny body and explore the area. Medicinal herbs, ointments, tapestries and a trunk. Opening the trunk, Rhea spotted her parents keepsakes and weapons from her father. She didn't know why, but slowly and harshly tears began to form; melting those ice blue that she held as everything that had happened in the past week hit her and let those droplets of water fall down rosy tan cheeks.

* * *

It took a total of three weeks to get to Florence, so in that time Abdul trained Rhea with no remorse, even for her age. The sword play took forever but the free running came to the girl naturally as if a fish to water. She was fast and often challenged other children to tag to test her skills and also escape chores by scampering up the caravan cars.

Eventually the time came and the child had to leave with Abdul and two other men for Florence. The caravan was a good thirty minutes away from the city so it would be easy to drop off the trunk and the child before returning back to the moving city. Their first stop was Rhea's new home; a slightly portly man greeted them and introduced to the girl that he was Renaldo.

Rhea was wary of him at first but warmed up when he suddenly scooped her up and hung her upside down over his shoulder when she tried ignoring him. He had a sense of humor and continued to carry her like that until they left his home to a palazzo. The place was beautifully decorated and the child ogled the house as she hugged a stuffed toy shark she had taken from her trunk. They all walked inside and went into an office where a man sat at scribbling away. He didn't look up but he did acknowledge them.

"Renaldo, Abdul, it's good to see you two again. How hav-"He stopped when he looked up to see a new face, Rhea. He smiled when she looked up at him with her light blue eyes. Giovanni got up from his desk and walked over to the small girl who was hugging Thantos close to her heart. He had a warm smile like her father, Giovanni had kneed down to her level and put both of his hands on her shoulders.

"Now who is this beautiful girl? She looks so familiar to me, is she related to someone I know?" Giovanni asked looked up at the two adults. They both looked warily at each other, knowing that Giovanni was upset about Stephan's death, and also thinking that Thiea and Rhea were dead.

"Auntie Claudia told me you knew my mother and father. My name is Rhea Allocco; my papa's name was Stephan Allocco, and I was told that like he you were an assassin and his friend." Rhea spoke. Smiling slightly, Rhea looked into Giovanni's honey-brown eyes to see his surprise. The only daughter of his best friend stood before him, defying all odds by living and even smiling the slightest.

"No wonder why you look so familiar, you have Stephan's hair color; and his tiny ears that always picked up the slightest noises when we were slinking around town." Giovanni said hugging the girl tightly, hoping to cheer her up. To the banker/assassin, Rhea looked like a Greek girl from paintings with her dress, and her pixy hair that had grown slightly longer over the weeks, she looked so innocent. "Now we have some business to attend to, so why don't go explore this part of Florence. I know if you are like your father you are curious, and you might even meet my sons, Ezio and Federico. Go, play." Giovanni pushed her to the door. Looking back at Renaldo for the okay, Rhea looked warily until it was fine. After that, Rhea rushed outside as fast as her sandaled feet could carry her.

* * *

The sun was bright and high in the sky as the girl trotted through crowed street; both the towns folk and Rhea stared at each other as they passed each other. The Italians wondered why the child was wearing something similar to a toga and Rhea wondered how these people could survive in such heat covered up like they were. Seeing she wouldn't get an answer, Rhea continued walking and eventually walked past a slightly older girl who wore very expensive clothing and jewelry. The Greek girl paid very little attention to the Italian but it wasn't the same for the older girl. She walked up to Rhea and tapped her on the shoulder.

"You are not from here are you?" The girl asked eyeing her to see where she originated from, only to sneer slightly when she realized that the hem of the dress now had mud on it.

"No, I come from Greece. But I'm now going to live with a friend of my father. I'm new here." Rhea said, smiling only to show her annoyance as this brown haired girl analyzed her. The girl, Angela de'Pazzi, had her eyes on that doll that Rhea held in her arms. Even though it wasn't all that special, it was made from fine silk like fabrics. And Angela loved things made of fine things.

"That doll, it's very…pretty. Can I see it?" Angela asked holding out her hand as if it was an order. Rhea looked at the hand and then at Angela's eye, she had the look of greed stashed away. Angela's friends gossiped in hushed voices about the Greek girl, calling her things like "Barbarian" and such.

Rhea gave a small whine, "Sorry but this was a gift from my mother, she died recently and I don't want anyone else touching it right now." Rhea answered as she turned to leave. Angela wouldn't have it, acting quickly, the older girl snatched the doll by the tail and ran off with her new prize. Not believing what had happened, Rhea stood there dumbstruck before taking after the girl. Thanks to the free running training, the Grecian caught up to the other girl and tackled her to the ground. The doll was thrown out of reach, forgotten as the two girls tried to rip each other to shreds. They had fallen into a puddle, splashing water everywhere as Rhea had a good stance sitting onto of Angela.

In the midst of fierce emotions thrown around and a crowd forming, Rhea didn't see who had come up to them until she was violently kicked in the stomach and off Angela. The person, who turned out to be Angela's older brother, continued to yell and kick her for hurting his sister. Rhea bit her tongue and tried not to give in, even taking a punch to the face.

* * *

For Ezio, today was extremely boring for the thirteen year old boy. Sure he could have races with his older brother or go flirt with some girls, but he had already done that and to do it again would be repetitive. His father was expecting some visitors from out of town so he was shooed out of the house and his mother was caring for his younger sister. Boring, everything today was so boring.

His attention was caught by a small feud going on between two girls, one was which Angela of the de'Pazzi family and of another girl who wore strange clothing and looked like she had popped out of a fairy tale. By the looks of it, they were fighting over the shark fairy girl had, and when she tried to leave Angela snatched it and ran. Ezio watched as the fairy girl looked in shock at Angela before sprinting to the noble girl and tackling her to the ground.

Now things were getting interesting, curses were being exchanged between the two girls; fairy-girl seemed to speak Greek or something. But he didn't stop it because it was rare to see a cat fight occur in broad daylight. Crowd had gathered to gawk at the girls fight and pull at each other's hair, fairy-girl obviously had the upper hand because she was sitting on top of Angela. The fight stopped when Vieri rushed to his sister and kick the fairy-girl off, and by this time Federico had joined him as well to watch the spectacle. At first Ezio was going to leave thinking that after Vieri had kicked the girl off he would leave fairy-girl alone, but he stopped as he heard a yelp from the strange girl. Vieri was kicking the living shit out of her and he even punched her in the face even though she wasn't fighting back.

Looking at Federico, Ezio marched up to Vieri, and tapped him on the shoulder. When Vieri turned around, Ezio punched him in the nose as hard as possible. After that a small fight between the Auditore brothers and Vieri's gang, Vieri and his sister ran off empty handed. Ezio walked up to the fairy girl who was trying to get up, but since the wind was knocked out of her she struggled. The Italian boy offered a hand to the Greek girl, looking up she took in and he heaved her up onto her feet.

"Thank you." She spoke in a small voice as the air returned to her lungs, the fairy-girl patted her dress at where her knees were. She looked up at him with ice eyes, which made him flinch. There was so much hatred behind them, but not for Angela. Federico had scooped up the cloth doll and handed it back to the girl. She replied with another thank you, looking at the disappearing crowd around them. Even though it was wet, Rhea hugged Thantos for comfort then she looked at the older boys, the shorter one was defiantly older than her by seven years tops.

Her ice eyes met the honey brown, the boy that helped her up examined her silently as she examined him. Medium build, yep he could beat her up if he wanted to.

"Why did you save me? _Θα μπορούσα να υφίστανται χειρισμούς_." Rhea spoke in a less confidant voice, the Greek confusing both boys extremely. Ezio only ruffled her hair in response before saying to the younger girl in his most charming voice.

"Because I do not like seeing a woman in trouble, and my brother would agree as well. My name is Ezio Auditore de Frienze, what is your name _piccola_?" Ezio asked.

"My name is Rhea Allocco…." She trailed off when she heard Renaldo call to her. The portly man jogged to the children, Ezio recognized him and greeted him. Renaldo and Federico greeted each other as well. After a few words, both Renaldo and Rhea left the two brothers by themselves to go home.

"What did you think of her?"Federico asked.

"What, Rhea? Eh she's a bit young but one thing for sure, she will change in the future, and hopefully good enough for my tastes." Ezio cracked smirking his perverted smirk.

After two years of running around Florence, Renaldo moved his business to Venice. And the business of delivering letters boomed in the floating city, but it also molded the eight year old to run faster, more agile and swim quickly. Renaldo had Rhea dress as a boy for the deliveries that she would make so men wouldn't harass her on her trips.

* * *

In short time, ten years, Rhea had become the fastest person in all of the floating city, but at the cost of having no womanly figure what so ever. It was deduced that since Rhea worked out too much and ate very little, the fat she needed to fill out some of her body parts would not stay. Well she did have the curve at her hips, but it was so subtle that no one could notice it unless they were hugging her tightly. Still, she was as tall as any boy her age and had long locks of curly black hair. It didn't make her situation better, especially when she stuffed her hair into her hat. None the less this girl's adventure was about to begin all over again, and for the better.

* * *

"RHEA, YOU HAVE DELIVERIES! GET TO THEM!" A woman's voice exclaimed from the bottom of a flight of stairs. The person who was being called to groaned as she dragged herself out of bed and to her window. Opening the curtain, a faint light from the rising sun filled the room with a warm glow. Growling slightly, the girl stripped herself of her night gown, binded her chest and dressed in her regular pants, shirt, vest and her father's greaves. The worn leather gave Rhea a comforting feeling before she raced out of her room and down to the shop front.

Grabbing her messenger bag from the counter, she checked the addresses for her first stop. Seeing that is was Leonardo, Rhea sighed and grabbed a piece of bread before heading outside. The woman who had yelled at her stood outside tending to a flower shop, she was Renaldo's wife of six years and was a sweet lady; but still had a loud voice when she needed to be heard. Waving to her, Rhea took off to the artist's studio. This would be a day of memories…

Translations:

**Θα μπορούσα να υφίστανται χειρισμούς,: I could have handled it**

**Piccola: tiny**

**Il mio amore: my love**

**Discretamente: alright**

**la mia bambina: my little girl**


	2. The remebrance of one

**Author's note: So here it is Chapter 2 of this story...not to pressure I was really upset over the fact that no one reviewed the last chapter last I posted. So I really stress that I wanted people to review cause it means to me that you like the story at least. So if you can please give me your feedback, it's really appreciated. Please enjoy this new chapter. **

"Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, FUCK ME AND MY FAMILY FOR THIS!" screamed the voice of the distressed delivery girl/boy. Guards arrows zipped past Rhea body as she ran for her life, she was only making a delivery to one of the nobles and she couldn't get in. So Rhea being Rhea, snuck into the house, placed the letter on the study desk and tried to sneak out. Emphasizing on tried, because when she tried to sneak off onto the rooftops Rhea was spotted and they don't even tolerate the messengers.

So for the next thirty minutes Rhea ran for her life, for the third time this week. After a while, Rhea jumped into one of the many convenient hay wagons that were erratically placed around the city. She had no idea why they were there but they came in handy in the quick need of hiding from the hoards of guards. Sitting in the itchy dry grass for a few minutes, the Greek girl checked her messenger bag for missing letters knowing that if Renaldo found out, he'd have her ass. Luckily they were all there, including the extra letters she received from her co-worker Dante who was now spending his day at Sister Theodora's courtesan house screwing his dick off.

Rhea growled at the thought of him slacking off, he did it all of the time. It's hard enough that Venice is split up into six districts and that there only three delivery people that went from house to house. Sighing and seeing that the coast was clear, Rhea hopped out of the cart and onto the street. The cobble stones shaped the soles of her boots, modeling them into the cracks between the stones. Every feel, every scent of the city, she loved it, except for the smell of the drunkards that were littered around the city.

As she walked around the city, Rhea reached Leonardo's house with the sun lighting up the city more and more. Birds sang and flew around the few trees by the big building that was the artist's work shop. Being that it was morning the door was locked; Rhea cursed to herself because she had left her only key back at home in the rush to get ready. She circled the workshop until she found an open window; Rhea took a few steps back and charged at the wall. Once her right foot came in contact with the wall, Rhea used the momentum she had gathered and used it to push herself up the wall and to catch onto the ledge of the windowsill. Heaving herself up, Rhea climbed through the window headfirst and pulled her legs in.

Flipping over to land on her feet, Rhea landed on the top self of a rack that held hundreds of ideas and concepts for experiments before jumping off to land on the floor. The workshop was still dark and lifeless, signifying that Leonardo was still asleep. Rhea walked over the stove in the corner of the main room and stoked the fading fire from the night before. Usually the Greek girl would come over to every morning she could and cook breakfast for the two of them, and then Rhea would go off to the rest of her devilries for the day.

"Good morning Rhea, it has always surprised me how early you get up and get here to make me breakfast. I feel that you are a guardian angel sent from the heavens just to feed me." Leonardo serenaded to the girl in man's clothing.

"Leonardo, you are an example of a man who has a heart of art and literature. It's too bad that other men don't follow your example by going off giving a woman sweet words before fucking her." Rhea replied heating a pan then pouring some olive oil into it and going to gather eggs, bread and tomatoes. After the pan was hot Rhea cracked the eggs and poured them into the pan to cook. Leonardo chuckled quietly to himself at the woman's vulgar response, as usual.

"Rhea, would you mind cooking extra food? I had a friend of mine stayed the night and he is probably going to gripe like a spoiled child that he didn't get any food." Leonardo asked setting the tiny table he had for three people. Rhea only sighed and got more ingredients for the new person. After the tomatoes were chopped into slices and the eggs were scraped off the pan and the slices replaced them, another man walked down the stairs and slowly walked to over Leonardo without even noticing Rhea. Usually, Rhea wouldn't stare but this time she did. What he wore gave her memory shock to the core; he wore the assassin's attire except his was flashier with its red and white coloring.

Ezio was tired beyond belief; he had gone through the last of the assassin crypts late last night after helping the mercenaries out. Fighting guards, going through an exhausting crypt, and even being attacked by this giant octopus or squid from the depths was just taking its toll on the young man. Maybe today he would go to Sister Theodora's for some lovely company. He sat at the table for a few minutes, talking to Leonardo for a while, before feeling that a set of extra eyes were watching him. With his hood down, the assassin turned to see a young boy look at him from the kitchen. The kid was tall but really skinny under those baggy clothes. Once the kid noticed that Ezio was looking back, he went back to cooking breakfast for all of them. Ezio looked at the kid some more before turning back to Leonardo.

"Leonardo, who is that _piccolo del normale? _I've never seen him here before." Ezio yawned rubbing his face with his hand to remove the sleepiness from his eyes.

"That's Allocco; s-he's the fastest runner of all of Venice and one of Renaldo's delivery boys. He comes here every morning to make breakfast for the both of us since he's shooed out of the house every morning." Leonardo answered, leaning back when "Allocco" set the plates of fried eggs and tomatoes at each place and a basket of sliced bread in the middle of the table. Rhea sat, and not wasting anytime so she could make her deadlines, began eating after muttering a one worded prayer. Ezio only looked at this kid, so he was the fastest man of all of Venice. This surprised the assassin for the kid was tiny in the terms of bulk; he looked like he had no muscle at all.

"So Allocco, you work with Renaldo? He's a good friend of my family." Rhea only gave him a glance before placing an egg and a tomato on a slice of bread and eating it pretty quickly. "Actually I have no idea where he lives, maybe you could tell me?" This time Rhea ignored him only to give a glance to Leonardo a look to answer for her.

"Renaldo lives in the Central part of the city, and his home is also where the delivery center along with the flower shop his wife owns." Leonardo interjected for Rhea. She sent him a glance of thanks before getting up and placing her plate in the wash bin after she wolfed down her small breakfast. Ezio watched as the two gave silent good-byes and the exchanging of a hug. When Rhea walked out of the workshop, Leonardo waved for Ezio to come to the door.

When Ezio reached to door frame Rhea was already in the middle of the square, the kid scanned the roof for a place where there were no archers. Ezio's jaw nearly dropped when Rhea bolted straight for one of the walls of a house, Leonardo wasn't kidding when he said Allocco was the fastest person in Venice. Allocco ran up a bit of the wall before using his arms to pull himself up and bolt of towards the northwest. Leonardo said some words before returning inside to finish his breakfast; Ezio did the same now thinking about asking Renaldo if he could help him with something.

Rhea ran fast to make her next delivery spot, the wind pushing her along the rooftops with such ease and grace. Her braid whipped behind her as she leapt over a large canal, nearly falling in Rhea managed to pull herself up and continue running. Ezio, it was Ezio from Florence the boy who had helped her along with his brother. The boy who thought it was a good idea to somewhat hit on a six year old. He had grown up blessed, unlike her. Leonardo had told her that he was twenty five when they talked about friends that the other hadn't met. That was a seven year difference, not that she was counting for certain things, she was just curious.

The way he moved, it was very similar to Giovanni and her father Stephan, it was the movement of an assassin. Rhea could only be jealous; she was never allowd the way of the assassin's blade. Even in the afterlife, her father forbade it. But the skills of speed were in her blood, and that was good enough for now.

After three long hours of running around Venice, Rhea was tried and hadn't had lunch yet. But she did have one last delivery and it would reward her with food and a good chat. Now in the richest district in the city, Rhea walked over to the edge of a roof top closest to one of the many canals and jumped off to land on a balcony. The thud of her landing alerted the person who sat next to the window, and the opening window revealed a pretty blonde haired girl in the finest of dresses meant for casual wear.

"Afternoon Amelia; I have a letter from you-know-who." Rhea lowered her voice to a whisper, incase Amelia's father walked in. Amelia giggled at the childishness of the Rhea and sat on a bench by the window sill, taking the letter in her right hand.

"From Alonzo I see. Well I guess I'll have to read and answer it as fast as possible. But right now, how are you my cross dressing friend?" Amelia answered with an accent heavily laced with French heritage. Rhea was going answer when her stomach did it for her; Amelia broke out in laughter when Rhea blushed sheepishly. "I see your stomach is screaming for food, hold on a minute." Rhea watched as Amelia walked to her door and summoned a maid. Rapid French was exchanged between master and servant before Amelia returned to the bench, when finally situated Amelia smoothed out her skirt of any wrinkles.

"How was your day today? Did you have another voice lesson?" Rhea asked getting comfortable on the sill.

"My day was good, and yes I did have another lesson with my mother. You know how she is about my voice and singing lesson. We must practice or else you shall sound like a yowling cat in heat," Amelia answered, imitating her mother haughty voice and attitude. Rhea laughed at this and Amelia joined in the fits of giggles. This was probably one of the only times Rhea felt like a true girl, other than working in the flower shop. The girls continued to chat until Rhea's small plate of bread and a piece of beef came up. Amelia talked about how her stepfather was acting and other things as Rhea ate her lunch, and when finished Rhea talked about this morning.

"So the boy from Florence, he's here and all grown up. Wow that must have been exciting. Did he recognize you at all?" Amelia asked intrigued by this new information, being that she was a girl and she loved to hear rumors and other things.

"No he didn't, he actually thought I was a boy with the help with Leonardo. My god, do I really look that much like a lanky boy?" Rhea exclaimed, putting her face in her hands and screaming silently in frustration.

"Well, let us look at the whole picture. You run around in boy's clothing, you curse like a sailor, and you have no breasts, nor an ass. So yes I can see why one would mistake you for a boy. But at least you have one thing most girls do not; a body of strength that none of use noble girls could ever dream of." Amelia chuckled while braiding a strand of her straw colored hair. There she went again, prodding at Rhea's weak spot, her looks; she wanted to look like any regular girl that had a body full with good flesh. But Rhea must have lost it by running around so much and burning flabby fat from her tall body, and add on to the fact that Rhea was as almost as tall as the average man. Oh Amelia liked to poke and prod at this unblessed girl. Rhea sneered to herself, preparing for a comeback before her friend unleashed a fit of powerful coughs.

"Amelia don't strain yourself, rest your lungs for once." Rhea cautioned, helping her friend sit up. Amelia couldn't respond; only with more coughs. Rhea knew that Amelia had a lung disease that was greatly triggered by moisture in the air. Amelia's mother, Andrea, had fought with her husband for months about moving to Florence to help her precious daughter. But all was futile; the man would not budge for his job was too important to him than his step-daughter's health.

After Amelia got her composure back, she ushered Rhea to before anyone else came, especially her step-father. Rhea nodded and climbed up the outer wall onto the roof tops to her next stop before home. Sister Theodora's house of pleasures.

Rhea stood at the back entrance of the courtesan house; giggles, moans, alcohol, and heavy perfume flooded out from the back door alone. Theodora spoke to Rhea about what was going to happen tonight.

"So you will bring one of your girls to have her hair weaved with flowers, and then you will pick which types of flowers you want for you next order, correct?" Rhea asked making a mental checklist, and also counting the things on her fingers. Theodora nodded her head in reply, before continuing the conversation.

"Do you want me to bring another girl along so we could have a separate opinion, or not." She asked the Greek girl.

"No, bring a man. His opinion will be more trustworthy, believe me men seem to know what they want. I doesn't matter who but it must be a person with some sort of a penis." Rhea ordered, adjusting her leather bag.

"Oh you talk so vulgarly Rhea, I wonder, are you ready to become a real woman now?" A husky male voice sounded from the door frame. The man stood loomed over Rhea with brown eyes filled with satisfied but growing lust, his shirt was loose and untucked from his loose pants.

"Dante, I don't think little Rhea is planning to lose her virginity anytime soon. Now go finish your appointment before Rhea castrates you." Theodora answered before Rhea could beat the living shit out of Dante. Dante sighed and went back to his mewling courtesan. Theodora saw the anger that laced Rhea face. "You shouldn't put on an angry face or you will wrinkle prematurely _piccola_."

"Sorry, it just pisses me off that he dumps all of his work on me, just to sit around having sex and screwing someone." Rhea spat at the spot Dante was just standing at with the most disgust she could muster. The courtesan house owner only rolled her eyes; Theodora motioned for Rhea to follow into the brothel. The scent of heavy perfume engulfed Rhea's nose with so much for she had to stifle her sneezing greatly. Theodora went to a drawer, and pulled out a stack of old letters that were yellowed from age.

"These are for you, but don't open them until it is the anniversary of that day. Until then have Renaldo lock them up from your curious hands alright." Rhea nodded and gently took the letters. No more words were exchanged, only silent goodbyes. As Rhea walked to the main room of the brothel, she spotted Dante with his arms around two women in their usually courtesan attire. Rhea had no hate for the women in this profession; she actually looked at them with amazement of how they could bring a man under their spell. She just hated the men who fell for them, especially Dante.

The assassin walked through the entrance of Theodora's brothel to find a bit of a surprise. It was Allocco, the assassin had thought that the boy seemed a bit stingy to come here, but here he was glaring at another man who smugly had his well muscled arms around two women.

"Allocco, it's a bit of a shock to see you here." Rhea's head snapped to see Ezio next to her, the only thing that surprised her was the fact that he was here now. She nodded her head and began to walk away to freedom; that was until Dante opened his mouth. The other delivery boy noticed that Ezio thought that Rhea was a man. Oh boy he was going to enjoy this.

"Ezio _mi amigo,_ I didn't know that you knew little Allocco," Dante smiled devilishly, and from of the tone of his voice made Rhea stop in her tracks. She whipped around to watch what hell this man was going to cause. "You see, poor Allocco is only eighteen years old and has never bedded with any woman before. But there is another problem, he doesn't have enough money to spend a night with these beautiful sisters and he is also awfully shy. Do you think you can spare my little friend a little money to have a fun night?" The twenty two year old man asked bringing the girls he had closer to him causing a fit of giggles to emit from them.

Rhea's cheeks flared with anger and utter embarrassment, her ice eyes burned holes into Dante's head until she felt Ezio's eyes on her. She turned her head to see him give him a smile that said, "Oh course I give this poor boy some money, he needs this night,". Rhea's angered cheeks flushed with utter embarrassment and she whipped her head back at Dante to see him smirking at her. This was the payback for all pranks she and Alonzo pulled on him.

'_Shit I have to get out of here!_' Was the only thing that sped through Rhea's mind as she tried to walk past Ezio, but fate was against her now, Ezio grabbed her arm.

"Allocco, don't tell me that your chickening out. Come on your going to have a fun time trust me." Ezio told her, he began to pull her to the desk where the men would pay for a girl. Rhea tried to pull away, but she soon figured that Ezio thought that since she was being defiant that "Allocco" was shy. Not wasting any more time, and just as Theodora was walking into the main room with one of her newest girls, Rhea tapped Ezio on the shoulder to get his attention back on her.

Ezio looked back at Allocco to see what he wanted, but all he got was a fist to his face. Ezio let go of the kid's arm, angered that he would do that and reached for him again to teach the kid a lesson.

Rhea saw that Ezio was grabbing for her again, so she reacted with the training she had received with the caravan. The Greek girl swung up her leg to Ezio's face, hitting his ear. And when he actually got a hold of her, she flipped him over her back, throwing him on a table that fell apart under Eizo's bulk weight. Seeing the damage was completed Rhea noticed the silence in the brothel, everyone was staring at her in shock. Especially the girls who knew her well, but Dante was the only person who started laughing.

"Wow Allocco, I didn't know you'd reac-" SLAP, that was the only sound that echoed in the entire room. Rhea's hand was still up for she had slapped him so hard; she hoped his eyes would pop out.

"Fucking _Μπάσταρδος_." Rhea growled, storming out of the brothel and running back home as if Hades's hounds were at her heels. Dante only rubbed his cheek where Rhea had actually managed to scratch him along with the slap. The two girls left him alone to help Ezio up from his fall.

"What the hell is his problem? Does he even like women?" Ezio asked getting up slowly, gently touching his jaw were the fist had come in contact with.

"Sorry for the trouble Ezio, it's just fun to mess with him. He's like a girl, very touchy about things, and very pretentious. With the way things are going; the kid is never going to lose the virginity." Theodora spoke; conversation started back up in the whore house, she stood a good few feet away from the door. "How about you go get yourself help by some of the girls for a while, but please come back a little bit after dark and I desperately need your help." Ezio complied, letting Dante's girls whisk him away for some good healing and relaxation.

Steam rolled around the room as Rhea sat in the bath tub made from the bottom half of a giant wine barrel. Today was probably the most stressful day she had in years, and all she wanted right now was for the bubbles to make her worries to float away. Her mane of hair was pulled into a tight bun as Rhea sank deeper into the concoction of flowery perfumes and oils to make her smell of vanilla, honey and roasted almonds. It was her favorite smell out of all the oils and perfumes her step-mother Lisa had bought, the scent was absorbed into her olive tan skin as she stayed in the water longer thinking about everything.

Rhea had told Renaldo about what had happened at Theodora's, and now all she was hearing was the booming voice of Renaldo chewing out Dante for dumping his work on Rhea and for also almost disgracing her at the brothel. She only smiled as she scrubbed her body with soap and then the scented oil before stepping out. Rhea wrapped herself in a dry crisp white towel and pulled the cork to let the bath drain. The water flowed down the tile to the grate where it would end up in the sewers.

Rhea walked up the back stairs to her room to get into her dress; Lisa had wanted her to work the flower shop tonight after her long bath. Dante passed her with a scowl on his face and the pretty little scratches to match. She laughed to herself and walked into her room to finish drying to dress. After slipping the dress over her under clothing, Rhea wrapped a apron over her skirt showing her only curve that finally seemed to be growing, now if only her chest would follow suit. With a brush, the Greek girl untied her bun; letting that mass of curls flow to her back and reach to the edge of the girl's butt and ran it through to get out all of the tangles.

Once done and her bangs pulled back from her face, Rhea walked down the front stairs and outside to the flower basins, night was falling and the city was bustling with the sounds of oncoming summer parties. Lisa was inside enjoying a romantic dinner with Renaldo, as Rhea stayed outside tending to the flowers and sitting on a stool and busying herself with a wreath made up of some vines and intertwining tiny daisies and other wild flowers. Little noble girls went nuts for these kinds of things, making them feel like a princess waiting for their dashing knight in shining armor. A childhood opportunity Rhea missed out on. People who whispered to themselves as a trio walked up to Rhea from behind; and she had a very good idea who two of the three were.

Rhea turned around to greet Sister Theodora and the new girl Cecilia with a good greeting, but her face nearly dropped when she saw the "penis" that the brothel owner was to bring. It was the fucking assassin. Trying to shake off her anger, Rhea smiled and greeted all three of them to the best of her ability.

"Sister, Cecilia it's good to see you two. It's been a while hasn't it? Who is this man you've brought with you?" Rhea asked slightly smiling to hide her anger, knowing that the older woman would catch it. All the Greek girl wanted to do was to forget the womanizer in front of her, fucking examining her like a piece of fresh meat. Doing her best, Rhea had Cecilia sit on another stool in front of her and untied the cat buns. Wavy light brown hair spooled around the 15 year old's figure as it was brushed out. And during this time Sister Theodora introduced Ezio to Rhea before looking at the flowers for her arrangements.

"Sister Theodora, pick the flowers you think will look great for this season, then Lisa and I will make the arrangements in about four days." Rhea called over to the brothel owner who examined each flower type carefully.

"So Rhea, Theodora told me that you were to instruct me my purpose for tonight. Would you mind telling me what it is?" He asked with a good amount of suaveness to woo the girl. But it didn't seem to be working; she only looked at him with familiar ice cold eyes.

"Just go find a type of flower that would look good in her hair, it's a new tradition in Sister Theodora's brothel that a girl must have her hair weaved with flowers before her purity is taken. We want her to look irresistible, so please look around." Rhea growled harshly that it seemed that the assassin was literally slapped with her harsh words.

"Please Ezio, choose something wonderful for me. I want to be a symbol of purity and love before my first night is dominated by a wonderful strong man." Cecilia purred to Ezio, seduction dripping off of every word. She seemed to really catch his attention away from the other glaring girl when she flirtatiously pouted and looked up at him with large almond brown eyes. He only smirked with the look and walked off to the flower basins to make the naughty virgin happy. Rhea gave the other girl, who was younger than her by three years a look of shock mixed with a bit of disgust. "What? I am only doing what I do best."

"You girls scare me sometimes and the other times you just aggravate me." Rhea spoke, twisting the light brown bangs back with large groups of hair to create the braided base for the flower to be weaved in. "Now I'm glad that I was raised to be what I am today."

"You mean a pathetic girl who runs around in boy's clothes and will never be laid, not even touched by the most perverted of men for her lack of figure and charm." Cecilia was shut up when Rhea tugged "accidently" too hard on her hair. Rhea glared at this new girl, all of them were either terrified about their first night or turn up their charm and haughtiness to bump up their sexuality. But wait till their first night of sex was over, the scared would be coddled by their forgiving older sisters and the haughty ones left in their rooms to sob until they see that their actions before were stupid.

Sister Theodora came back with a list of what she wanted and orders for Ezio to return Cecilia to the brothel when all of this was done. After she left, Ezio returned with a yellow rose in his hand. Rhea took it and held it up to the back of Cecilia's head, after contemplating about it she handed to flower back without another word. Ezio could feel the tension, though he had no idea why there was any to begin with. But there was a glimmer of hope when she spoke to him.

"There are some daffodils over there, they look like yellow trumpets with light yellow ruffles around them. Please bring nine of them." Rhea asked without any eye contact, focusing on more braids for her Cecilia's hair. Ezio didn't know if to smile or not, because Rhea's tone of voice wasn't harsh at all it seemed a bit happy that he picked something she liked. When he returned with the nine flowers, Cecilia's braids were undone and were now having small white flowers weaved into them. Rhea turned to face him, seeming to sense his presence and took three of the daffodils from his hands. She then cut the long stems to a short length, tying them together with a piece of twine, and then weaving the bunch of yellow flowers on the right side of Cecilia's head.

Ezio continued to watch as Rhea continued her work; she seemed like an artist content with her work and proud of its beauty. With the last strands of hair braided in and the last of the yellow flowers placed, Cecilia looked like a goddess of some sort, with her hair pulled back, and the flowers seem to grow from her hair. Ezio and Rhea noticed that other men, single or married were staring at the courtesan with their fantasies growing.

"Well they seem to like it, thank you Ezio for helping. Oh and before I forget Sister Theodora wanted you to escort Cecilia back to the brothel, for last time we let a girl go back alone she was swarmed by so many men we nearly thought she was raped." Rhea told him picking up the stems that were cut then also grabbing her stools after the soon-to-be courtesan stood and waited for Ezio to leave. Rhea ignored the both of them as she began to put her things away and pack up for the night.

"It was a pleasure meeting you Rhea, I hope when I see Renaldo sometime I can see your pretty face again." Ezio flirted, taking her hand and kissing it like they way a gentleman would. After Rhea tugged her hand back and gave him a look. She said a quite goodbye and returned to the house in which she lived, letting the other people who worked for her step-parents pick up everything else.

Ezio knew what Rhea had said in that glare that she had given him, "Thank you for commenting that I have a pretty face, do you take me for a desperate whore?", she obviously didn't like him but for a reason unknown. Shrugging it off, the assassin walked back with Cecilia to the brothel where Ezio would stay the night. Maybe with a more experienced girl, not the one giving him lustful looks as the two walked on.

Rhea slammed the door to her room with a loud bang and flopped onto her small bed. Why did she have to bring HIM of all people? And especially after what had happened earlier today. Growling, Rhea sat up and grabbed for something to smash, but stopped when her hand registered what was in her hand. The clay sphere that she had kept from all those years ago, Rhea had never opened it even knowing that something was inside. Sighing, Rhea placed the clay sphere in her lap and examined the worn paintings that littered the object. Rhea still had the whistle, but she never wore it for the fact that she was scared to lose such a precious object. Anger still swirled in her mind as Rhea sat there, rubbing the clay sphere in her hands to get the feel of it and to think clearly. The girl had a new disgust for the assassin, and it angered her that he was allowd to go off and fight the templars while she had to abandon her past and go off and run around the city like a headless chicken. 'Stupid letters' Rhea thought as she closed her eyes to concentrate on what to do next.

"Letters!" An epiphany came to the girl as the idea popped into her head. She grabbed a piece of parchment and feather pen, sitting at her desk. She pondered there in her seat as she thought of something to say. Then it came to her after thinking over the day's past events, Rhea scrawled in the most beautifully way she could two words in Greek, and then signing it as Leian. The process next was to fold the letter in an envelope, sealing it with wax and a insignia of a lion then put it through circulation. Rhea chose the lion for a few purposes, Renaldo's family seal was a crane, and the Titan Rhea from legend was protected by a pair of lions. It was a test to see how the assassin would react and also if Ezio would go out and search for "Leian", Rhea grinned evilly at the thought of fucking with the man for the next few weeks to come.

As she got up from her desk, a glass bottle of perfume spilled on to the letter. Cursing she snatched up the letter, set the bottle up right, and waved the letter in the air to dry it off, but it seemed to add to her master plan. It now had the smell of a girl and Rhea knew if a girl liked a man and wanted to seduce them they would spray their best perfumes to make the paper smell "pretty". She smiled to herself as the devious as the plan began to take form and roll into action. Slipping off her gown and apron, Rhea stood there in only her under clothing until she slipped on her night gown and opened her window. As she crawled into bed the wind snuffed the candle out, before the dream land of her fantasies came to life in her clouded mind.

Early the next morning, Ezio walked into the workshop of Leonardo. The artist was up and trying to cook breakfast.

"Leonardo, are you try to do a woman's job? Because if you are, you are failing horribly." Ezio smirked as he took the pan of black food from the smaller man and set it in the wash bin. "Besides what happened to the little _punto _Allocco?" the assassin hissed in anger, still remembering what had happened yesterday.

"Ah for some reason he's late, but it happens to people. Well you do it yourself, why do you have something for him?" Leonardo asked curious and oblivious of what had happened at Sister Thedora's. Ezio sighed, not wanting to share his embarrassment about the fact of a lanky kid beating his ass. But Leonardo pestered him enough for the assassin to explain and ending up with the artist stifling his laughter as he decoded another codex page.

"Come on Ezio, it could have been worse than that. Plus it's Dante who set it up, the two of them work together and Dante knows all of Allocco's quirks."

"Still he didn't have to flip me over his shoulder and kick the living shit out of me."

"Again Ezio, this is Allocco we are talking about. Plus you had just met the kid yesterday, can't blame him too much." Leonardo was going to continue until the door opened and the person who they were just talking about walked in. Rhea looked up at the two of them as they stared back at her, she defiantly felt Ezio's honey brown eyes glare at her intently for yesterday. God, couldn't he just forget what had happened. Ignoring him, she walked over to Leonardo and handed him his usual art requests and such. Then acting like it was natural, she dug around in her pack until she grabbed the letter that she was looking for.

Ezio gazed at the letter that had a orange lily tied to it was handed to him, it was addressed to him by the symbol of the assassin and Ezio's family seal printed next to the symbol. It smelled of the vanilla flower, defiantly from a woman. Rhea tipped her hat and walked out of the workshop to other deliveries. Ezio watched as the kid ran off again before untying the orange lily off and opening the letter, he noticed the strange symbol of a lion before the parchment inside was revealed. Ezio set the envelope down on the table and unfolded the parchment to only see two words beautifully written in a foreign language to the Italian assassin. Leonardo leaned over the taller man's shoulder to try to see what the letter had said.

"It's Greek." The artist explained seeing the other man's confused expression from under his hood as he circled around to ask for the letter. "Renaldo's step-daughter Rhea taught me. She knows many languages from dealing with many merchants he deals with. She doesn't know how to write in Greek but she knows how to read it and speak it with a perfect accent." Leonardo explained as Ezio handed it to the artist and watch as the face of the shorter but skinny man fell when he read the two words.

"What, what does it say _amico_?" The assassin asked immediately as he saw his friend's face drop, it kind of scared him to see Leonardo to act that way.

"Ezio, are you sure you want to know?" The assassin nodded warily, so the artist continued. "Ezio I'm guessing that this woman doesn't like you because I know for a fact that an orange lily is a symbol of hate or distaste," Ezio's face showed a little shock at this but kept it solemn, so who cares if one hates him he had plenty to go to, but it got worse. "and the Greek words _ρήμ __πόρνη_ means… Ezio this woman called you a man whore."

"WHAT! What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Ezio exclaimed, now mad beyond belief, what Allocco had done was out of the picture at this point.

"Well I'm guessing this woman is calling you a whore because you sleep arou-"

"Yes I get the point Leonardo. But why would a woman of all people write this? I don't even think I even know this person." Ezio interjected thinking about the new situation. He already had enough to deal with the assassinations and such but this was adding a migraine to the problem.

"How about you write something back Ezio" The assassin gave a look of "Are you joking?", but the artist continued. "Instead of sitting here, pondering about this mystery woman, why don't you write her back for the answers that you desperately want?" Ezio sat there and soaked in all of what Leo had said, t made sense to an extent. It only worked in the fact that he find out what this person wants.

So after an hour of discussing some things and actually writing the god damn response, Ezio sealed it and gave it to Alonzo, another delivery boy to put through circulation. With the symbol of the lion on the front, surely the author of the first letter would receive it. Disgruntly, the assassin went out to gather information on his next target.

When Rhea returned that afternoon, she was exhausted and happy that the rest of her day was a free day. Well until Lisa would have her help make the arrangements. Setting her pack down, she sifted through some letters to see what was there, and to her surprise a response had come from the assassin. Grabbing it from the stack, Rhea ran up to her room to get changed and read the response. After tying the last of her dress ribbons, Rhea grabbed the letter and sat at the window sill to read with the fresh air blowing in. She laughed at how Ezio demanded why she had written those two words. Seeing how this could turn out to be funny, she wrote back and out the next letter through circulation. This time, she had explained that she had seen him with dozens of women, whores or not, and that it disgusted her that a man would do something like that. Rhea even went to ask f her even had a long term lover. Seeing that the new set was in motion, Rhea left for her chores waiting for the next response.

Over the next few months, Rhea and Ezio had written well over ten times each week. The funny thing was that the letters changed from hostile to actual conversation and the sharing of stories. The only thing that Rhea had revealed to Ezio was that she was the daughter of an assassin, in which opened into letters with six pages written of stories and questions for the other to read an answer. But today Rhea was off running around like usual to send a letter to someone in the rich district then off to the thieves' guild for some important information for Antonio.

Sadly, Rhea was running extremely late and she couldn't go on the roof tops because of the rain, so she weaved through the masses as gracefully as she could. As soon as Rhea reached the edge of the rich district, she ran into someone much larger than her, causing her to fall backwards. Some guards yelled at her for running into their lord in Spanish, but they were shut up by the showing of their master's hand. That same hand reached down to pull her up, taking it Rhea was pulled up but something made her blood run cold.

The man wore a ring with a weird cross, the same cross as the Templars. Rhea looked up at the man's face discreetly only to recognize him on the spot. It was Alejandro from her past, now only older and more powerful. Wanting to get out of his presence, she bowed slightly in respect and tried to run off, but he grabbed a hold of her wrist and held her hand out. Making face palm side up and set a large money pouch in her hand. When he released her hand, Alejandro got a good look at Rhea's face before she bolted from his sight. He smirked to himself; he recognized those terrified ice cold eyes anywhere.

When Rhea reached to the guild, she was panting and she had chucked the money pouch at some minstrels who had tried to stop her. The adrenaline in her blood coursed through her body like while fire and it took a while for the Greek girl to calm down. He was back, and he probably knew. But all Rhea had to do at this point was to keep to the rooftops and herself until that demon was gone. Her train of thought was broken when Rosa greeted her, both girls traded quick words and Rhea gave the thief the package for Antonio. As she ran home for security, Rhea passed a blood drenched assassin.

**Translation: **

piccolo del normale: little boy

piccola: little girl

Μπάσταρδος: bastard (Greek)

Punto: bastard

Amico: friend

ρήμ πόρνη: man whore


	3. Owlet's flight

**Author's Note: Wh00t, it's here, chapter 3 is here xD. After a month of waiting I finally dished it out, and my buddy Shelby editied so I thank her so much for it. So yeah and also I got my first review so that makes me really happy. Again you guys for those who have critiques and stuff, I really appreciate them so please review. Or just to say you liked it, it means a lot to me if you were to do it**

Rain washed the city of Venice for four days, and on the fifth the weather had lessened by one degree and Renaldo had his three runners go about the city. Alonzo and Dante had taken more of the bulky items as Rhea was loaded down with a mountain of letters and important documents, none complained about his or her situation for the day. The rain pelted on Rhea's body with slight traces of hail in the gargantuan mix, and it hurt her all over. But it wasn't the physical pain that affected her the most; it was the physiological pain that plagued her.

Sure it had been twelve years since the massacre on the island but after all of these years, one would think it would be impossible for two people to meet after an event like that. She was sure that her grandfather had killed them; well that was what it seemed like from the yells on that ship before she drifted off into the unknown. Rhea shook her head as she leaped over a canal to the next roof top, now wasn't the time to think about it. She had to concentrate or one slip up could spell out a broken arm or leg.

As the day progressed, the rain worsened. Zeus seemed to having a fight with Hera or something, with all of the lighting and thunder that was filling the sky. The people had left the streets, except for the homeless and the thieves who were enjoying this opportunity to run the streets. Rhea thanked Renaldo over and over in her mind for giving her a leather bag to keep the papers dry, for the old delivery bags used to be cloth until the business had boomed and they could afford such luxuries. Rhea stopped by the great canal and jumped down to a close by tree before climbing down and running to a nearby smithy. At first the man didn't answer when Rhea pounded on his door, but when he opened it after five minutes of persisting Rhea gave him his orders letters and ran off to her last stop.

Rhea had been making Leonardo's home her last stop since it was a better chance that she wouldn't see that damned assassin. Sure she liked to see his face when he read her letters, but he would just annoy her about being a virgin since Ezio still thought that Rhea was a sixteen year old boy. Damn him to Hades. Lighting was turning the mortal world black and white by the time Rhea reached the artist's home; and Rhea took the pleasure of rushing inside to dry off.

Leonardo's head perked up when he heard the door slam, but he only smiled when he saw a drenched Rhea. She looked like a drenched shaggy dog, especially that she had her water logged ponytail out from her hat and how her clothes stuck to her body making her look tiny.

"I guess you should be thankful that you don't have a filled out body Rhea, because the water is making your clothes stick to your every curve." The artist jested, going back to whatever he was working on. Rhea only rolled her eyes and walked to the fire. She pulled put the rod that one would put their iron pot on to be heated by the flames and slipped out of her shirt. Rhea wasn't stupid about this, she had worn an under shirt along with chest bindings so that when she came here her shirt could dry. Leonardo only looked at her and sighed.

"Rhea I wish you wouldn't do that while I'm here. It's not lady like, and what if someone walks in."

"You see Leonardo; this is the difference between our cultures. Ancient Greeks didn't mind public nudity, and besides I'm still wearing my chest bindings and an under shirt so I'm not totally naked. Anyways aren't you the one making anatomical sketches of dead naked men?" Rhea shot back as she situated herself in a chair by the fire. Leonardo opened his mouth for a comeback, but then closed it knowing that his friend would come up with something as well. He looked at her damp body and got an idea, he grabbed a piece of parchment and a stick of artist charcoal. Pulling a seat next to Rhea, Leonardo began to sketch the woman with fast paced strokes.

Rhea had seen Leonardo move from her peripheral vision, but she didn't move. The sky water had taken its toll on her exhausted body and she didn't want to make herself any more tired that she already was. So she just sat there, watching the flames as her friend drew her face on the paper. Leonardo took great care in capturing all of the correct curves of the woman's face and also capturing the slightest smile the girl had given. It was only when thunder shook the workshop was when Rhea would jump slightly. Soon Leonardo finished his work, but Rhea was on the verge of sleep, so she checked her shirt to see how dry it was. Seeing that it wasn't too damp, Rhea slipped it back on and sat back down; then she placed her hat over her face and proceeded to fall asleep.

Ezio entered Leonardo's workshop at the edge of dusk, the storm had stopped and the newly washed city was coming back to life. Inside he found Leonardo fiddling with one of his inventions, and Allocco sleeping in a chair. Ezio ignored the brat and went over the inventor with another one of the many codex pages.

"Ezio, how was your last assassination of Emilio?" Leonardo asked giving the assassin a quick hug.

"It went quite well for the fact of how annoying the mission was." Ezio replied giving the codex page up.

"_Grazie _Ezio." Leonardo paused and took a long look at the old scroll. "This one might take a while, why don't you sit down while I decode it." Ezio did, he sat in the chair that Leonardo had sat in to draw Rhea. Once a situated, the assassin saw the drawing on a side table near him, he grabbed it looking at the small picture the other man had done.

"Wow Leonardo, this is quite a wonderful picture. Who is this beautiful woman?" Ezio asked as he looked at how it was drawn, the assassin admired on how Leonardo was able to capture all of the features that woman had that made her so beautiful. Even the slight smile she had and the warmth her eyes shined made him want to smile a bit.

"It's Rhea, Renaldo's step-daughter." Leonardo answered as he continued the decoding of the page. Ezio thought about something and then he asked the question.

"You seem to know her that well, Rhea I mean. She doesn't seem like the type to let any close to her from what I have seen from that little girl." Ezio mused, not really thinking that Rhea was really this pretty, she always seemed to scowl when he or Dante were near her.

"Well I've known her since when I first got to Florence, she was living there for a while before she and Renaldo moved to Venice. I think it's been about seven years since we first met."

"Do you like her Leonardo? It seems to me if you've know a woman that long you should have some feelings for her." Ezio smirked his perverted smile at the older man. "Though she s a bit young."

"Ezio stop the dirty thoughts for a second, will you? Rhea is young for me, for one, she's eighteen. And I don't have those kinds of feelings for her, she's just a good friend of mine," the artist sighed as her finished deciphering the codex page. "Here you are."

"Wait a second before you said she lived in Florence before didn't you?" Leonardo nodded, Ezio thought some more. "Tell me did she ever have short black curly hair?"

"Not when I first met her, but she did tell me that her hair used to be short. Why?"

"I know her from back in Florence, she had beaten up Vieri's little sister over a toy." He chuckled a bit to himself. "And I was hoping she would have grown up to be more than she is today back then. Seems to me that she was an unlucky little kid." Leonardo only rolled his eyes at the childish behavior that Ezio seemed to emit. The artist walked over to Rhea and tried waking her up by nudging her shoulder, but it didn't work since she just shrugged his hand off and turned in the chair to get more comfortable. Ezio decided that it was payback time, he had gotten up from his chair and flipped her chair with his foot causing the younger person's body to flail around as she woke up from the rough treatment.

Rhea was going to yell at whoever had flipped her after she had gotten into a crouch position but she stopped herself after she saw the smirking assassin above her. Getting up, Rhea purposely bumped Ezio in the shoulder roughly and went to grab her delivery bag. Once ready she gave Leonardo his hug and walked to the door, but Ezio stopped her.

"Here Allocco, another letter for Laien." Rhea took the envelope and went home, enjoying the last few minutes before heading home.

Once in the safety of her room, Rhea climbed into her bed after changing and opened her letter. Renaldo and Lisa had left for an evening to themselves, leaving the eighteen year old to herself. Tomorrow would be the anniversary of the massacre of her island, one of the two days she would get off to be in solitude for long periods of time.

_Dear Laien,_

_I have begun to think that I see you every day, even though we only speak by words on the page. In beginning, you seemed to have hated me, but now that I read your lovely words, to me it seems that you grown some feelings for me or something similar to that. Not only are we similar in the fact that we can get along but also in the fact of our heritage; the fate of the assassins, something that we both share greatly._

_This may be much to ask but I would love to meet you in the near future, for if I see you in any time after that I will endanger you. And I do not want the Templars, who have destroyed both of our lives to ruin yours anymore. The thing that I ask of you now is your utter compliance for this meeting, for the children of allies should be allies themselves._

_ Signed,_

_ Ezio Auditore_

Rhea smiled at the letter, on the outside Ezio seemed to be one of the lowly men in the city. But in these letters, he was different. He would tell her what was on his mind, as if she was one of the only people who could take a hold of his hurt heart and feel the pain and suffering he had gone through and reassure that she has been through it as well. And it seemed that her ice heart was beginning to melt away, for Amelia had sworn that her eyes seemed to melt to a lagoon blue when she read these letters from Ezio; the same lagoon blue that existed before her life was altered forever.

A loud banging on the front door interrupted Rhea thoughts as she finished writing her response. Rhea grabbed a robe as she walked down the stairs, and after she placed her letter in circulation she tied it and opened the door. It reviled to be one of the guards of the city; he seemed to be in a hurry and was also unsure of something.

"Madame, is Rhea Allocco here this evening?" The guard asked with a faltering stern voice.

"Yes, I am Rhea. Is something wrong sir?" She replied sensing the falter in his voice.

"Ah yes, I was told to bring you to the square in front of the cathedral, it seems that your guardians have been injured there and they want you help. If you would, please" The solider told the Greek girl. Rhea's eyes widened in shock, she grabbed the keys and went outside. She locked the door behind her, then followed the guard to the cathedral square.

Minutes passed, the rain clouds returning caused Rhea pulled her robe further closed. She didn't care if it was indecent to walk out in nothing but slippers, a robe and a night gown; all that mattered was getting to her caretakers. After winding through the alley ways, Rhea eventually had gotten in front of the guard for her endurance, but things seemed strange now.

It was eerily quiet, and that guard all of sudden was lagging behind so far away. As she looked behind her, Rhea came into contact with a large metal body. As she staggered back, she saw the brute and the three others of his kind block the path in front of her.

"Now where do you think you are going miss? Off to your next client?" The man mused as her peered down Rhea robe. The rain had begun to fall again, thus making her clothes stick to her.

"Sir I don't have time to mess with you now. Now please move." Rhea said forcefully, ignoring his last comment. She tried to push past him, but the brute didn't let her pass him. Instead he only grinned at her, knowing something was going to happen to her.

"_Perdonare a me._" Was the last thing Rhea heard before she was hit by the hilt of someone's sword on the back of her head. As her vision faded, she turned to see the guard who had fetched her for her "hurt" guardians. He had a look of regret, and it only grew as Rhea fell to the ground. The warmth of darkness enveloped the girl as she felt her body being thrown over a metal shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

Ezio had stayed at Leonardo's house again that night; the rain had resumed but had calmed down. The light patter of rain on the roof top would make any one sleepy, which what it was doing to the assassin. Breakfast had been prepared by one of Leonardo's assistants and was left on the table for anyone to eat. Ezio contemplated on how he was going to assassinate his next target, a corrupt noble, but his thoughts were interrupted when Dante walked through the door. Ezio was actually surprised to see the other delivery man in this part Venice, as far as he knew this part was Allocco's route.

"I was told that I could find you here, Ezio, by Allocco, it seems that he was right." Dante muttered as she shook his head to get rid of the water in his hair. "I have a letter for you, as usual. Also Renaldo could like to see you some time, today would be great if you would. He has some business matters to speak to you about. I really don't know or care," Ezio didn't like the attitude that he was getting from him, even Allocco who despised him gave him a better attitude then that.

"Thank you for the information _amico_," he paused whether or not he should ask. But someone else did it for him.

"Dante, what's wrong? Is something wrong with the way business is doing?" Leonardo asked as he appeared from his room. Dante didn't want to answer at first but he continued.

"It's about Rhea," he tightened his grip on the strap of his leather bag. "Usually at this time of year she spends it with Amelia, but she wasn't at her home this morning. And it's not like her to just leave without telling anybody." The workshop stood in silence as the three thought about it, Ezio didn't really know what to think because he didn't know the girl that well. He knew that Rhea and Dante rarely talked to each other for their constant bickering and yelling at each other for the other's actions. He knew this because he had happened to catch them in the market yelling at each for the most idiotic thing in life, the fight had stopped when Alonzo had broken them up and took charge of the situation. After a while Dante headed for the door. "Alonzo went to Amelia's to see if she was there, I'll tell him to give the news later." And the delivery man left the two friends to themselves.

"Rhea does this every year?" Ezio asked. Leonardo nodded, but something was still bugging him.

"Yes because today is the anniversary of her parents deaths and the massacre of her home village." Ezio flinched at the thought of parents dying, he never liked hearing about something like that. Especially after what the Spaniard had done to his family. "Every year she spends it with a friend or goes off in solitude, as if she believes if she mourns enough they will come back to hold her again. But at the same time knowing that it is not possible, she only came to me before she met other girls to be around…..You know Ezio, the Templars ruined her life." Eizo's head perked up at the word of "Templars".

"What?"

"Yes, her father was an assassin. So to eliminate the assassin called Stephan Allocco, they sent a man named Alejandro Vargas to eliminate him and the people who lived on his island. Rhea and another handful people are the only survivors." Leonardo stopped and fiddled with a small invention to change his mind about the event that Rhea had graphically described to him when he had regrettably asked so many years ago. Ezio remained quiet as he rose to leave the workshop and gather information for his next mission. It would only be until late afternoon that he would be able to see Renaldo.

Rhea groggily woke up with a sharp pain in her wrists, they felt as if metal clasps had a hold of them. As her vision cleared she saw that she was chained to pillars of stone that spread her arms apart and had her body kept up, exhausting her legs to the extreme. She could hear the sounds of marching feet and birds chirping outside, the sounds of water dripping in a dank place. The whole room smelled of shit and other human wastes, but it didn't bug Rhea as much as it bugged her that her robe and slippers were gone; leaving the Greek girl in her night gown. She seemed to be alone, and Rhea took that opportunity to try to release herself from the iron shackles. As she did this, Rhea muttered curses in Greek about her situation and she also how she had gotten about in this predicament. The guard had been a city solider, but the brutes had been in the service of the Borgia family. A Templar family.

The sudden opening of her cell door caused Rhea to stop her actions and look at her captors. The two of them were obvious Templars for Rhea knew their faces, the shorter of the two was Rodrigo, and the taller was Alejandro. Blood ran cold in Rhea's body as his eyes met her's. Those black void eyes sent shivers down her spine, as if he was looking in her soul for weakness or anything he could use to break her will. Rhea mustered up her courage in a fiery rage and glared at the two men as they approached her.

"So this is the daughter of Stephan, she doesn't look like him don't you think Alejandro? More like her mother." Rodrigo asked in his hissing like voice laced in the Spanish accent.

"You are right, but it is her eyes that connect the two by blood. Those same blue eyes filled with murderous intent when I had him killed." Alejandro mused as he grabbed her chin to examine her face more. "Hmm, maybe you should tell you guards to be more careful. The poor girl is scratched up more than I'd like her to be." He sighed at the damage the guards had carelessly made on the girl. Rhea growled at him in an animalistic tone and tried to bite him, but failed when he pulled his hand away before her teeth could latch onto his flesh.

"Watch yourself girl. We will not take any stupid actions lightly." Rodrigo sneered at the Grecian girl, the man seemed to have the arrogance of a French and English man combined. He was even more upset when she spat at him and hit his boot.

"Why am I here you little ουσ φονιάς?" Rhea growled at them. Her wrists were screaming in pain as she tried to move forward and kick one of the two Spaniards. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to work at all, and Alejandro only laughed at her attempts to hurt them.

"You are here for one very important thing nina." Alejandro sauntered over to a wall and grabbed a cat-o-nine tails whip from the wall. Rhea's eyes widen in fear of what was to come as she saw the slightly barbed tips. "We know you have been in contact with the assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze. You will tell us all you know about him, and we shall give you a sweet future for your information. Now tell me Rhea Allocco," The man purred her name in such a way that shivers of fear reappeared in ten fold. "What do you know of where the assassin hides the codex pages?"

Rhea stayed quiet and did not face the Spanish man with torture in his hands, unsatisfied the man asked again. Rhea kept her mouth shut along with her eyes anticipating the oncoming pain. Angered when he yelled the question for the seventh time, Alejandro raised the whip over his head and brought it down to let the sound of the cracking whip echo through the halls followed by a short yelp.

It was turning to the hour of dusk when Ezio finally had reached Renaldo's house. The place still had lingering customers trickle in and out of the store, thus allowing the assassin slip inside with ease. At the desk, the short plump man known as Renaldo was dealing with a pestering woman about a mailing to her son in southern Italy. The squabbling could be heard over the chatter of flower shoppers as well and that had seemed pretty impressive to the young man. Alonzo had spotted the man's white robes and pulled him into the kitchen to wait for the older man out front. Ezio looked around the big kitchen. It was somewhat similar to what he remembered from his old home in Firenze, very homey and had the luring feel of staying there for hours to smell the scents of the meals being cooked.

"Ah Ezio, it's about time that we met face to face." Renaldo's entrance into the room stopped the assassin's train of thought.

"Sorry for not coming earlier. I was held up by uh business." Ezio strained the business part not remembering if Renaldo was also a man of the assassins.

"Don't worry boy, I worked under your father when I was your age so I know what you mean. And don't be afraid to talk openly about your plans. Now, let me know what has been going on so I know how to assist you." The older man grinned showing his friendliness so the younger could trust him. Ezio smiled, this man felt like family and that was what loosened the mood to allow the plans for more assassinations to take place.

During the day Rhea had been whipped, struck, punched or any other method of torturous interrigation Alejandro used to get information, but the only thing that would come from the girl was her blood, tears and whimpers of pain. Scratches, cuts and bruises of all forms littered her body to the upmost extreme for all she knew there was barely any place on her body unscathed by anything. Her gray night gown was torn at her back and at her legs, stained with blood it looked like the girl had gone to battle in her night wear. Her arms were also strained as they had raised her higher so her feet were dangling above the ground by a mere inch. Her black curly hair hung around her face like a thick curtain trying to block out the rest of the world.

Her captors had left her in her cell to sob in pain for their meal as she starved. The sun begun to set after what had seemed years of torture. Rhea's body was ready to pass out from the pain, she didn't even try to stop crying, just letting her tears leak from her eyes and down her hung head to the floor. The only noise was the shuffling of little rats' feet and one large one.

Rhea's head lifted up at the noise of human feet shuffling below her, down in the sewers below. Only Ugo, one of the thieves of the city knew the sewers like the back of his hands.

"Ugo! Ugo mi amico do you hear me?" Rhea called, not to loudly in the fear someone else hearing her call. Silence followed the strained voice and Rhea hung her head again in defeat, all hope gone from her body.

"Rhea what the hell are you doing here?" Ugo's voice answered her from below. Rhea looked down at the grate where Rodrigo and Alejandro had stood earlier at her questioning. His head was visible thanks to the torches in the room, and he could see the utter shock of Rhea's condition. "What the hell have they done to you?"

"Not now Ugo, listen go get help and quick. I don't know when they will return but tell Antonio that the Templars are trying to extract information about the assassins from me. Tell him and get help please." Rhea pleaded. Ugo nodded and dropped down into the darkness of the sewers for Rhea's release. It was to her growing fear that not even a half an hour later a group of men arrived. One with a sword and the other with a brand.

When the sun had set, Ezio had left Renaldo's with a full belly and a set of back up plans that the old man would help out with when needed. Ezio knew but didn't ask about Rhea's condition, he could tell that girl had not returned by the look in Renaldo's face. Before he had left he reassured the man that as much as he didn't like her that much, that he would keep an eye out for her. He didn't get it, why were so many people worried about one girl? Then again she knew a lot of people and had influence on others, but it didn't really matter to the assassin all she did was give him the cold shoulder whenever she spotted him. It was fine with him, the young man could go and find a more suitable and more developed woman to have cheerful company with.

As Ezio reached the Thieves guild a commotion was occurring. Thieves were stirred up and running around, scrounging for lock picks and knives. Ezio was left unanswered until he reached the leader of them all, Antonio.

"Antonio, what is going on? Is there some sort of frenzy happening in the city or something?" The assassin asked as he entered the office. Inside were Rosa and Ugo who had the smell of the filth of human waste all over him. Ezio had to cover his mouth and nose to block out the stench.

"Ezio good timing, we need your help immediately." Antonio answered.

"What is it, another thief gone rouge?"

"Not an assassination mission this time friend. One of our allies has been captured and taken in to the lower dungeons of the city by the Templars for forceful interrogation." Ezio nodded at the mission set in front of them. "A far as we know, our ally hasn't told them anything, yet. But she is in dire need of rescue before they end her life or extract the information." Ezio's expression showed one of confusion at the mention of "she".

"She? They captured Theodora?" Ezio asked.

"No Ezio, they captured Rhea Allocco."

After preparation, a small group of people left into the darkness of the sewers. It took every fiber in Ezio's body to not vomit in the rancid network of tunnels. It seemed to be only him that was affected by the smell, especially when everyone else was ignoring his gagging sounds. Ugo was leading the five man group through the sewers while another was on the streets headed to the same location in case of a surface escape. Ezio dreaded the fact on how this trip would last nearly twenty minutes at a fast pace.

"I understand the ability to get used to the smell of the surface, but how is it possible down here? Rosa how can any man or woman stand this smell? It would make one lose their ability to smell anything." Ezio griped as they turned a corner and traveled after little light that was Ugo's torch.

"Ezio," Rosa chuckled "That is how most of us can stand it, either you're used to it or you lose your sense of smell." Ezio could only look at the woman in disbelief, they were all crazy or he was. He couldn't tell. A sudden blood chilling shriek echoed thought the tunnels, in which made the small group go faster.

Rhea was too tired to even glare at the man in front of her, but all he did was smirk as one of the soldiers placed the brand in a fire pit that was set up to give the dungeon more light. Rhea struggled to pull herself from her shackles, but not even the blood for her wrists would allow her hands to slip through.

"Silly little owl," Alejandro mused by saying the meaning of Rhea's last name. "No matter how hard you try, you will never escape the Templars. We will succeed, whether you help us or not. Now, not to put you and your body to waste." He motioned for the solider by the fire pit to come over, which he did with the brand in both hands. He also motioned for the other men to gather round. "You two go behind and grab her left leg."

The men complied and grabbed her leg, Rhea tried to pull it away but her weakened body let them. They lifted her leg so that the knee was bent ad her inner thigh was facing forward. Alejandro took a dagger from his person and ripped her gown open below her hip so that her skin was reviled to the air. Rhea mustered all the strength she had left and desperately tried to kick the men away; they only grabbed her free leg and tightened their grip on the left leg. Alejandro took the brand by its handle and held it mere centimeters above her thigh.

"Now _belleza_, prepare for your new life." He evilly smiled, and in one swift move, he placed the red metal brand on her thigh. And this time Rhea couldn't keep her screams of pain in any longer. She shrieked like a banshee as they burned her flesh, all of her pent up pain was expelled in this one action. Satisfied by his work, Alejandro removed the brand and had his men let her go. He watched in gratifying pleasure as Rhea whimpered and sobbed in so much pain, he could see that she wanted it all to end.

"Aww poor Rhea." The Spaniard cooed as he caressed her face which hung, her hair acting as a curtain to shield her next action. When his fingers were near her mouth, she finally was able to get revenge. Her teeth clamped over his index and middle finger, Alejandro yelled in pain as she wouldn't let him go only biting down harder. Alejandro was yelling curses at the men to get her off and they tried to pull her away by pulling at her body and hair, but she wouldn't allow them to. As she focused all of her strength to her jaws, making the flesh of the man began to give way as blood began to fill her mouth. Finally the soldiers were able to pull her away, but she didn't lose this battle in vain.

Alejandro cradled his hand like an injured boy with a scraped knee, he reached for his sword with his right hand but he realized what was the end result. Rhea grinned as she spat out his two fingers from her mouth, his blood leaking from her mouth as she spat it out. She hated the taste of his blood, to her it tasted like she had drank liquefied shit mixed with bad wine and piss. Alejandro wouldn't allow that sort of behavior, especially from the assassin's daughter. He grabbed his sword, unsheathed it in fury and brought it down on to her face. The swipe ran down from above her right eye down diagonally her nose and ending on her left cheek. Rhea yelped as the metal dragged across her face. Still having rage in his system he moved to her back and sliced her back, chest, and her legs to take out his anger.

The soldiers only looked at their leader in shock as he finished taking out his temper out on the girl, once he calmed down her sheathed his sword and backhanded her.

"_Perra, _I hope when you're broken you scream in pain like you did before." He left with his men following behind and the rescue team underneath the grate. After the locks and bolts were shut on the door, Rhea had slumped in her shackles defeated and tired and she didn't even lift her head when the grate moved allowing the thieves and Ezio into the dungeon. As much as he didn't want to, Ezio stared at Rhea in her current state. Her bloody and battered body, made the ice girl seem so helpless, so weak and so fragile that she would disintegrate to dust.

"Ezio hold her as we unlock the shackles, hurry before someone comes back!" Ugo ordered in a hushed voice. Ezio held Rhea as gently as he could, but once her open wounds hit his clothing she yelped in pain and grabbed onto the new warm figure that held her. The two other thieves worked on each shackle with great speed, and soon Rhea's arms were released from their prison letting them drop and allow blood flow back to them. The injured woman moaned in pain and looked at Ezio through her curly hair. He could see those blue eyes that were hurt, but not of damaged ice but of tampered water.

Rhea stared into the honey-brown eyes of the man that held her, they were so invitingly warm and familiar but she couldn't put a face to them. The Grecian could only move her body closer to the warmth of the man and hiss as her open wounds burned in pain. She heard a "let's go", and felt movement occur as the light changed and the rancid smell grow extremely strong. As far as she could tell with hazed over eyes, they were in the sewers, she was leaving that horrid place of nightmares.

Ezio had to be extremely careful not to jostle Rhea as the group ran to an exit to the surface. Sooner or later, the soldiers would notice the missing girl and immediately suspect the sewers. But how were they to make it to a safe spot in the city with a bloody woman with her night gown in shreds that barely covered her body? Soon they left the darkness of the sewers and Ezio sweared that he would never go back down there, but he didn't have time to focus on that now. The group had surfaced on the northeast side of the city near the headquarters of the mercenaries, and if they were lucky it would take ten minutes to get to the thieves guild. But luck was not on their side.

A city guard had spotted Ezio, which he forgot that he was still being searched for his last assassination on a corrupt noble, and yelled for reinforcements. Taking the only actions they could Rosa, Ugo, and the other thieves ran to distract the guards as Ezio ran for a spot to hide. He ran for a good while before spotting a haystack in an alley way. Taking no chances he side stepped quickly and fell into the haystack by landing on his back. Rhea cried out as the hay scratched her already overly sensitive skin, Ezio quickly covered her mouth with his gloved hand, making sure that her cries couldn't be heard.

"Ezio what are you doi- oh my god Rhea!" Ezio turned to see Alonzo had joined them in the haystack. The young man was shocked at the sight of his best friend. "I-I-I heard what had happened, b-b-but this is bad. Really bad, Ezio we have to get her to Bartolomeo's head quarters immediately. They have a very skilled doctor near them."

"That's a god idea, but the only problem that I have to go back the way I came and it's crawling with guards. How in hell's name am I going to get past them?" Ezio removed his hand from Rhea's mouth when her cries stopped and not to suffocate her at the same time. Alonzo thought for a while, and he looked at Rhea's body.

"I can draw them away for a short while, I am not as fast as…." He paused looking at Rhea giving Ezio the message that Rhea and Allocco was the same person. Now it made fucking sense, and god did Ezio feel like an idiot. It was so fucking simple that it was brilliant, but now it brought on the question of Laien. That was for another time. "But Ezio we need to disinfect her larger wounds, the hay could make her sick."

"I would like to but we don't have anything to clean her cuts. Not even water." Ezio whispered as a group of guards walked past the alley they were hiding in.

"I have some bad grappa that I was to deliver but we can use it now. The money can come out of my pay, but now hold her still." Alonzo uncorked the bottle and poured gently over Rhea's legs. Now Ezio really whished that the girl had passed out, but her god damn sensitive body made her let loose a small but loud scream in pain from her whimpering lips. Ezio, reacting fast, covered his lips over hers in a smothering kiss. For sure it muffled her scream extremely well, much more efficient than his hand. Alonzo tried not to mess up when he saw Ezio's bold action to shut up Rhea, but he knew that the short scream had attracted some guards at the entrance of the alley. Alonzo worked fast and quietly to clean the wound on Rhea's back as well, not even bothering with her chest for modesty and that Ezio was blocking it with his body.

When Ezio had sensed that the guard had gotten bored and left, he finally pulled back for air. Rhea gasped, she had no experience kissing any man so she couldn't last as long as Ezio. The assassin couldn't help but be amused by Rhea's fluttering eyes and red face as her head hung back, an indication that she had passed out from lack of air and pain.

"Alright now go so I can run past the guards." Ezio ordered. Alonzo took off into the street; Ezio waited as he heard the commotion of Alonzo messing with the guards and the sight of the poor man getting chased by the down the street. Taking the small gap of opportunity, Ezio ran with Rhea in his arms bridal style ignoring the weird looks that he was getting. Running past the church in the part of Venice, Ezio took a sharp right and headed for the docks. Finally, before the shoreline, Ezio reached the gates of the mercenary head quarters and luckily they were opened. As Ezio walked over to Bartolomeo's office, trying not to notice the jeering of the mercenaries and yell at them to shut the fuck up, he only quickened his pace. Not even bothering to knock, Ezio kicked open the door to see a surprised Antonio and Bartolomeo.

"Ezio there you are! And I see you were successful, good good." Antonio congratulated, but then he saw the condition that Rhea was in he went into a serious mode. "_Caro mio._"

"I'll get one of the boys to get the doctor, we'll set her up here." Bartolomeo went outside to yell orders as Antonio cleared a table which had some sort of papers to be organized later. The mercenary returned with a random girl who worked there with a white sheet in hand. The girl spread the sheet over the table and Ezio gently laid Rhea on her back. Rhea was still out of it, but the contact of the hard surface almost woke her up worrying Ezio and everyone else. She had already lost a lot of blood, which now stained her torn night gown, and if she decided to move it could result in her death.

"Antonio, Rosa and the others are still out there. I'll go check on them, and bring them here." Ezio said as he began to leave, but he was stopped when he felt that someone had grabbed onto his assassin robes. He looked back to see that Rhea had unconsciously held onto him. The assassin was torn a bit, she didn't want him to leave out of fear, but he had to find Rosa to make sure that she was still here.

"No Ezio, I find her. Stay here and wait for the doctor, and do whatever he tells you. When I find them I will return." Antonio said as he left for the streets. Ezio pulled up a stool and placed Rhea's hand back on the table, and she seemed to be fine with him being close to her. Her head rolled to the side as she fell into a light sleep.

"What happened to her?" the girl asked. Ezio didn't look at her, but looked at the marks that marred her body.

"I don't know exactly, but they slashed her with a sword, whipped her, and other ways of torture." Ezio didn't know why but he was angered by the actions that Vargas had committed against Rhea. She was innocent; she had no past of killing but of deaths; only an innocent who had been caught in a war that she had only been informed of. The doctor had arrived shortly and wasted no time in going to work. He stitched up her large wounds on her face and back. And when Rosa had returned the doctor had everyone but the women leave so that Rhea's chest wound could be stitched up as well.

Renaldo had arrived at the head quarters in a huff, and demanded to go see his step-daughter. But the doctor kept him outside and only let Teresa, the girl, go out to get a fresh night gown, more bandages and water. More time passed with one more set of painful screams and small complaints before everyone else was allowed back in.

It had looked like a murder had been committed on the table alone. There was blood all over the sheet, which now lay on the ground, and the table had all of the bloodied tools of the doctor. Rhea had been laid on a small cot in the corner of the room, and Renaldo rushed to her.

"_Piccola, piccola_ are you going to live?" Tears came to the old man's eyes as he took a hold of her hand and got onto his knees. Rhea grunted slightly as she turned to face him.

"I am supposed to, sorry that I was so stupid." She croaked, obviously so tired. Her eyes were fluttering closed as she faded to the dark warmth of sleep.

"Rhea, Rhea before you rest. Did you tell them anything? Rhea did you expose anything about the assassins to them?" Rhea couldn't even answer them this time vocally, she only nodded "no" before finally drifting off.

It was the next day that Renaldo had gotten Dante to come and carry Rhea back home, and it was surprising that he didn't "accidently" drop her. It seemed that the man was just happy to see that the girl wasn't dead. But it changed when Lisa and Amelia had began to fuss over Rhea as she began to wake up, wishing to go back to sleep.

Ezio also didn't try to come visit the girl, he only lurked around the city to find Alejandro but he only got word that the man had returned to Spain for his "business". And also Ezio had placed 2 and 2 together to figure out that Rhea was indeed Laien, for he didn't get a return letter while Rhea was bedridden and sleeping most of the day.

Leonardo had made an attempt to visit, but had seemed to only go at a bad time, like when Rhea was still sleeping, changing, or taking a bath. It wasn't till a week and a half from the finding of Rhea the artist had managed to finally talk to his friend. And Ezio thought it was slightly amusing when he had seen Leonardo return to his workshop, angry about what had happened to the girl. Ezio had imagined Leonardo as a flustered hen by his actions. But he went on with his minor missions to gather more on the conspirators of his family's disgrace.

A month had passed and Rhea sat on a roof top that over looked the grand canal of Venice. Even though she was ordered not to run on the rooftops, she had walked to this place to get some privacy from her fussing step-mother. She was still covered in bandages, but most of the ones for the smaller cuts were removed to let them air. The sun had set and the night air cooled her body, and let her bathe in the light of the moon.

The Grecian sat there in a traditional short robe of Greece and sandals, with the set of letters Theodora had given her to read. Rhea had already read through the bulk of them, and what they were surprised her. The letters of information of the Templars in her father's time and the love letters shared between her parents. She smiled at the words her mother had written to her father of the want of a family and the life to make the gods jealous, and her father's total agreement to it. Rhea was so deep in thought that she didn't notice the man behind her until he spoke.

"I thought that you were forbidden to wonder the rooftops." Rhea smiled to herself as the man sat next to her, letting his longer legs dangle along with her heavily bandaged ones.

"They told me not to run Ezio. I walked the whole way here without climbing too much. And what are they going to do to me? I am pretty sure that they know that I left to get some fresh air." Rhea replied leaning back onto her hands. There was a pregnant silence between them as life below continued.

"So should I call you by Rhea, Allocco, or Laien? Which of those names do you prefer since you like to run around as so many other people?" Ezio asked trying to get to the bottom of Rhea's actions.

"Would you like me to call you ρήμ πόρνη?" She gave Ezio an uncaring look, while he glared at her for the name she had stamped on him. She only sighed and looked back at the moon "I would like you to cal me Rhea because that is my actual name. And for my many shinagans around the city and bugging you, it's because I can plus it is easier for me to run around the city as a boy than as a girl." Ezio didn't look at her either, but listened as she went on a bit longer why she had done what she had done.

"Ezio….what was it like to have a father?" The assassin finally looked at the girl, he wasn't expecting such a question. He sat there thinking for a while before answering.

"It was like having someone you truly idolize in your home, giving you knowledge and skills for the future in your home and life, there every step from when you were too small to remember anything till his last day with you. Always loving you no matter what you did, being there for you when no one else could." Ezio remembered the memories of his father, all of them precious to him to the full extent.

"Ah." Was the only thing that came from the girl. She had started to tremble. "I am pretty sure that Leonardo has already told you what had happened to me."

"Yes."

"You are lucky Ezio, you got to grow with them at your side, unlike me who lost them at a young age. But all I wonder is if they are proud of me, if they are proud of what I have done?"

"I know they are." Rhea looked at the assassin with tears threatening to leak. "Who wouldn't be proud of their daughter who had gone through so much pain and suffering and yet uttered not one word? Rhea, you know that they would be proud of what you have done. You have survived, and that is all they wanted you to do till now."

"Then what about now, then? What do they want me to do now?"

"To be happy." Ezio gave the girl a small smile, and it was defiantly contagious because she smiled back as one happy tear rolled down her olive cheeks.

"And this is coming from the man who sleeps around and assassinates people."

"Come on you can't blame me I'm a man with needs."

"Yes I can, don't you have a moral that you follow?" Ezio shook his head no. "Well mine is that a man can sleep around all he wants, but when he has a woman which he goes back to or is bound to he should stop and be faithful. That is something that you Italian men need to do." This had sprung up two hours of talking, conversations similar to their letters, and the sharing of silly and outrageous stories the two had lived. Currently Ezio was speaking of a race he had gotten caught in over impressing a girl when he was sixteen when he was interrupted by some from below.

"Rhea, Ezio! What are you to doing up there?" Rhea and Ezio looked down to see Amelia in boy's clothing, her own blonde hair stuffed in her hat.

"What are you doing down there? Isn't past your curfew?" Rhea yelled back. Amelia shook her head as Alonzo joined her with two pieces of documents.

"Not anymore." Rhea gave her a confused face. "Rhea I'm running away with Alonzo, we are going to get married and live in Naples. And don't worry, we have my aunt's blessing."

"Are you sure that's enough?" Rhea asked quite surprised by the French girl's actions.

"Yes, but Rhea you must visit us when you can." Alonzo then whispered in Amelia's ear, "We have to go and get on our ship." She turned her attention to those on the roof top, "Oh do promise to visit, or at least write."

"Of course I will silly," Rhea laughed, "now go catch your boat before it leaves without you." The lovey dovey couple yelled their good-byes and ran off to their destiny hand in hand. Rhea chuckled at her friend as Ezio stood up. "Where are you going?"

"Well signorina Rhea, I am off to go find a place to sleep." He jumped down and gracefully landed on the street below, successfully scaring bystanders. Rhea rolled her eyes and slowly began to stand up on the roof. "Come down and walk with me." Rhea looked down at the assassin with a look of disbelief.

"You expect me to climb down in my condition and walk home with you? Are you crazy _folata_?" Rhea called down to him, looking at him as if he were the village idiot. She gently rubbed the stop where she had been branded, it still stung to any rough contact to it but Rhea knew like all things that it would heal. The only people who knew were the doctor, Rosa, Teresa, Lisa and Amelia. No one else knew that she had been branded with the mark of the sex slave, and it would stay that way until Rhea ever got married.

"Then I can carry you if you wish." Ezio jeered, clearly trying to push her buttons. She glared down at him, and, to Ezio, her face was priceless. He grinned like a little boy having fun annoying a random girl, and to Rhea he looked like an idiot. She rolled her eyes at him but the next thing he said caused her face to go red. "Look Rhea I'll even catch you if you jump off the building."

"Are you fucking kidding me, what if you miss me or drop me _idiota_!" She yelled down at him, making a crowd gather around the assassin in white robes.

"I never miss _bella_." Ezio laced that last word with enough charm that Rhea's face grew hotter. Grumbling she grabbed the ends of her dress and held them down.

"Fine you win." Rhea yelled down as she stepped back from the edge. Taking one breath, Rhea prayed to Hestia and threw herself off with her back facing the ground. Now, Rhea enjoyed the sensation of falling, but only when there was something under her to break her fall. Surely enough, as Ezio promised, she landed in his arms. People applauded thinking that it was an act or something, but Rhea only looked at Ezio with her blush still slightly visible. He only smirked at her amazed expression and set her on her feet. "T-t-thank you."

"No_ problema, _now to take you home." He ushered to the bridge, and the two walked next to each other through the crowd and to Rhea's house. At first it was in silence, since Rhea was a bit busy glaring at the people who looked at her in disgust or shock by her short Grecian dress and her bandages. "You cannot blame them for looking, you are a girl dressed in something indecent to them and you are covered with bandages."

"Still, they should mind their own business." Rhea grumbled as she tied her hair into a pony tail. Ezio rolled his eyes at her response, she was so childish at certain points that it was like watching a ten year old brat. Rhea saw his expression, and decided to mess with him. "So Ezio, Alonzo told me what you had done in that alley." She smirked to herself as he sort of jumped at that remark, Rhea knew that Ezio had an idea how Rhea's mind worked and how she didn't like guys randomly kissing her.

"Well, uh you see." Ezio started, Rhea laughed quietly as he tried to explain to her how it happened without angering her. To her he looked so cute trying to come up with an excuse, and that made her smile. Ezio still tried to come up an excuse until Rhea stopped him. She had stopped him by placing her hand on his arm, making him look at her.

"It's okay, if I had been allowed to scream even with your hand muffling it we would have been found. I just wish my first wasn't at such a rash thing to do." She looked at the sky when she had said this.

"So do you want to repeat that to a more romantic moment? We can if you like?" Ezio suggested to her taking a hold of her hand in a suave Italian noble way. Rhea ducked under his head as he tried to kiss her, gracefully avoiding it.

"As intriguing as that sounds, I'd rather not. Plus aren't you supposed to be taking me home _signore_?" Rhea laughed as he pouted at her purposely, she held her arm out her arm to him. He took it and escorted the girl home. The last stretch of their walk was them having small chat conversations, nothing big but the two seemed to enjoy to let the world of the assassins and the Templars behind for their own pleasures. When they arrived to the house there were no customers in the store, just the occupants inside. Rhea unlinked arms with the assassin and stepped in front of him.

"Thank you for the night, it's probably the best night that I have had in years. And one more thing Ezio," She paused to see if she had the man's attention, "if the time ever comes and Alejandro comes back to Venice, don't kill him if I am still here. I want to avenge the people that he had killed, but if I am not, kill him for me. It would make me so happy if you did. It would put my soul to rest." Rhea walked to her door, but she stopped. Ezio watched the girl as she walked back up to him, then to his surprise she gave him a small peck on his cheek. "And that is for saving me." With that she walked back inside, looking back at him with melted lagoon blue eyes. Ezio chuckled at the girl, and walked to the direction of his lodgings.

Rhea's heart was beating like a flurry of butterflies, she had no idea why she had done that. She just did it. The thought of actually kissing the man, his scent, his being, the way he assassinated, his-'stop it Rhea!' Rhea smacked herself in the head to get those thoughts out of her head. The woman didn't need to be flaunting herself over the man just because she thought he was actually descent to be around. She needed to focus on her future and how she would avenge the ones that she loved. She needed to train, she needed to learn how to use a sword again. But how?

Rhea sat on her bed with her packet of letters, pondering over her dilemma. Thinking more about it, Rhea decided to sift through her parent's letters. As she reached the last one she saw that it was addressed to her. And that it was from Giovanni, setting other's down she got comfortable and opened it to read its contents.

_Rhea,_

_ It will probably be years until you read this letter, first off I am sorry about the tragedy on you island that robbed you of your home and family. But hopefully by this time Renaldo has given you a new happy life, though I have heard that he has put you to work to hone you speed and agility that you have inherited by your father._

_ To continue on with business, you may have known that your father was against the idea of arraigned marriages like I usually am. But when I heard news that you were born, I had suggested to you father of a marriage between you and one of my two boys Federico or Ezio. You father refused the idea, wanting his daughter to live her life the way she wanted to. I still keep the idea open and I am sure that you have already met one of my sons at least, in this matter it is up to you and the man that you choose._

_ I have heard the word that Alejandro makes trips to Venice every once in a while to find customers for his slave trade. I hope that you may never reach contact with him at all costs. I know how you must feel, the urge to kill a man for your people, but your father didn't want you to become a female assassin for he was afraid for your life. In true honesty, I think you father is wrong. Yes, Paola and Theodora are the only female assassins that we know in Italy and that they gave their bodies for the purpose of the assassin's duty. But that path doesn't have to be yours, in fact you should and shall become an assassin like myself. And once your training is complete you shall take your revenge and then join in on this war that must end. Now listen to these instructions carefully._

_ On the 16__th__ of the months of January, July and November a ship from Greece always makes port in Venice. In the dead of night, go to the ship 'blood lotus' and show them the symbol of the assassin. Take only what you need and have the rest delivered to you in Sparta. Once in Sparta look for the bureau of the assassins there and tell them your name. They will know what I have arranged for you and begin you on your training. You must do what they tell you unless it jeopardizes the creed or your beliefs. And when you have completed out training there, eliminate all Templars in Greece before you return to Italy for your important assassination._

_ Rhea you must do this to truly do what you want, so that you are not stuck living like a boy until you are married off. My blessing to you in which ever you decide to do. I have thought as you as one of my family and I wish you the best._

_ Signed,_

_ Giovanni Auditore_

_P.S.~ keep an eye out for my son Ezio, he is a charmer._

Rhea wanted to cry as she read this, she had her answer on this parchment. And the blessing of another father figure in her life, one she wished had never died. Sucking her guilt for not talking to the man more when she lived in Florence, she grabbed her satchel and began filling it with things she needed, clothes and other things. Today was the 16th of July, the day that she was to leave. Once she had filled it, Rhea looked around for other things to make sure that would get to Sparta. She then spotted the whistle and the clay orb that she had kept over the years, looking at them she packed them in her satchel before heading out her door and down the stairs as quietly as she could not to gain the attention of anyone else in the house. As Rhea reached the door, Renaldo appeared from the next room.

"So you got the message from Giovanni." He said solemnly.

"Yes." She licked her lips in anticipation; he looked like his only daughter was leaving him for good. And it was like that, she was his daughter she had been for the past twelve years. "Thank you for all that you half done for me. All of your teachings, all of your love that you gave me." Renaldo nodded and hugged for a good time before releasing her. "And tell Lisa that I said good bye." Rhea left the house and made her way down the dark streets of the city to the dock.

The Blood Lotus sat by itself at the docks, men were loading it with goods and other such things. They didn't notice her when she walked around then, it was only till Rhea tried to get onboard did they talk to her.

"What's this little girl trying to do? Become a sailor?"An older man jeered, he was well in his fifties or older by the looks of his skin. The other sailors laughed along with the older man, all encircling her.

"No, I need passage to Sparta. And you are supposed to take me there."Rhea answered, holding her ground. Sure there were a lot of them, but Rhea knew these men they just didn't recognize her.

"What makes ye think that this little girlie is going to Sparta, none the less free of charge?"

"It's one thing to jeer at one person, but it is another to jeer at a best friend's daughter Theseus." Rhea growled, showing the symbol of the creed to the man. Theseus glared at Rhea, eyeing her and trying to figure what she had meant. Right before the man was ready to beat Rhea down, it hit him. Those blue eyes and black hair, and her attitude.

"Rhea? Rhea, bless Posiden. You're alive!" Theseus smiled, walking to the girl and embracing her. The younger sailors had no idea what the old coot was doing but the older men did. They all greeted her with a warm welcome, all talking in fast Greek. Like at home. "Come come, we were informed by Giovanni on what to do, but we didn't know that it was for you." The old man smiled, showing that he had lost a lot of his teeth during the years of sea work, he walked her up the boarding plank and barked orders for the men to hurry it up.

"How is everyone back at the island?" Rhea asked

"Everyone is fine, but first wait here so I can get someone for you." Theseus had her stand by the main mast while he went to the captain's quarters for a few minutes only to return with an old man, worn down by age and the sea. He looked at her with storm grey eyes, worn and beaten by Mother Nature herself and his wife back at home. "Sir, you remember her don't you, your _engoni_?" The old man looked at Rhea in shock, and so did she tears rolled down her cheeks. In front of her was a blood member.

"_Papou_!" Rhea rushed to her grandfather and hugged him as tight as she could without breaking him. At first he didn't move, with his hands stretched in surprise at the girl's sudden actions. Then a smile formed on the old man's face as he patted his granddaughter's head as she cried on his shoulder. After a while she had calmed down enough for her to tell him what was going on, after that he had her put in the captain's cabin to rest. She did without any complaint; she was just over joyed to see someone of her blood still in this world. As Rhea settled down in the hammock that was hung up for her, she looked at the stars. The thought about how in the morning Dante would yell about is work load tripling, how Leonardo would be upset about losing his friend to the cause of the assassin. How the courtesans would continue life without making fun of the boyish girl, how Amelia would have a great life in Naples. And how Ezio would only see her as another girl; a girl that he charmed and actually had a good time without sex. Soon the girl fell asleep, awaiting the hardship to come, awaiting the blades of her past to become her future.

~~~14 years later~~

Idas was a man of blood and power. A previous assassin he was the most skilled killer of all of Greece, one would even say that he was the best of the whole Mediterranean. But it wasn't till the head assassins of Greece found his killing to be too much and finding that he harmed innocents for self gratitude, he was stripped of all rank and kick out of the order. Angered by this, Idas went to the Templars for revenge. He was welcomed with open arms and made an honorary templar and put in charge of Athens. The man controlled the merchants and their goods to the guards of the city, of course catching the attention of his old colleagues. Angered by his actions, the bureau sent assassin after mercenary after thief to kill this man. Each dead. The man was too slippery to catch and too well armed to kill, for his guards were always with him.

Tonight Idas had spent the evening at a whore house without the knowing of his third wife, the previous dead by disobeying his orders, and was now headed home in the center of the city. It was in the middle of the night and everyone had gone home for the curfew placed by Idas; the streets abandoned for the night by people and occupied by starving stray dogs and rats. Idas scoffed at such creatures and walked with his four guards to the bridge to the center of the city. This stone bridge had statues of the gods on the edges, and at night it was fore told that the statues would move to stretch their tired limbs.

A few lanterns on the bridge had gone out, which annoyed Idas for they were to be fixed today. The architect in charge of this would be punished severely. As Idas passed the first large spot of darkness, he heard a strangled yelp and gurgling noises come from behind him. The slight portly man whipped around in the spot of light to see two of his guards gone from sight. The only thing suspected of them was the blood slowly flowing to the traitorous man.

"GUARDS GUARDS, kill the wretch that dares defy me!" He yelled drawing his own sword. His two front guards, scared out their wits, complied and slowly walked to the forbidding darkness. Not too long after they went in, screams of pain and death sounded from that spot, making the blood puddle grow and touch Idas's shoes. He growled and turned around trying to spot the person behind this.

"I know you're there assassin. Now come out and fight me!" Idas yelled. Little did he notice the figure who had molded their body to copy the statue to hide and then jump to another without Idas seeing it. "I am the deadliest man of all of Greece. Come out and fight me like a man you little fucker! Rodrigo didn't put me in charge of Greece if he thought I was weak. Unlike those pathetic bastards that have fallen to your blade. I have survived countless assassination attempts, I will survive this one!" Idas screamed trying to intimidate the assassin.

A crack was heard and a whip end wrapped around Idas's leg, the man couldn't react fast enough to stop it as it was pulled and he fell on to his face hard. Idas howled out in pain as blood spurted from his nose to the ground. He tried to get up, but a boot-gladdened foot connected to his back pushing him to the ground. The foot then kicked Idas hard in his side to turn him around so his face was toward the sky. He groaned in pain as the person kicked him upside the head.

"For one thing Idas, I can't fight you like a man for I am a woman." The figure walked into his vision so that she was above him. Her voice velvety in tone, and her pitch not high but medium to it came out beautifully instead of a cute way. A beautifully sexy way. Idas couldn't see the woman's face for her black hood hid it by shadows, but he could see a pair of ice blue eyes look down at him. The look she gave him sent shivers down his spine, it was if Hades was looking at him now.

"L-l-listen, I was acting as a spy! Please believe me! I speak the truth." Idas pleaded, the woman's body didn't move but her eyes narrowed in anger. "Okay I'm lying, alright! I'm sorry, I'll do anything! I'll give the city back to the people, I-I won't hit my wife any more but please don't kill me." Idas was full of fear, seeing it strait in his eyes as is burned a hole into his soul.

The assassin crouched down, and activated her hidden blade in her right hand, swiping it over Idas's throat. Blood went everywhere, covering nearby statues and the assassin. Idas gasped for air as he tried to grab his killer, but she moved to quickly out of his reach and watched him die. Sure enough he did, making the woman's mission complete. Going back to the man, she opened his mouth some more and laid a golden dramacha under his tongue for payment across Styx. She ran her fingers over his eyes to shut them along with the man's jaw. Once this was done, the woman left the body there to be found in the morning as she made her way to the Parthenon.

The woman dressed in a white poet's shirt, a red and gold corset with a sash tied over it adorning the assassin symbol, brown trousers, brown greaves , black long vest and black hood looked over the city from atop the great ruin and smiled in her victory. Sure she was covered in blood, but this last assassination signified the freedom of Greece from the Templars, and the woman's 32nd birthday. A good day, and a great way to look over the city of Athens in the month of December. Soon as the people arose, a scream of terror came from the bridge.

"ASSASSIN! THE FURY HAS STRUCK AGAIN!"

Rhea smirked to herself as she performed the leap of faith in a nearby cart of flowers left behind. And near the secret entrance of the Grecian Assassin Bureau.

**Translations:**

**ουσ ****φονιάς: baby slayer**

**Perdonare a me: forgive me**

**Bezella: Beauty**

**Caro Mio: Dear god**

**Piccola: little**

**ρήμ ****πόρνη : man whore**

**Folata: jerk**

**Engoui: granddaughter**

**Papou: Grandpa **

**My thanks to:**

**SilverFoxQueen: Yeah I came up with the Man whore thing after Ezio sleeps with the horse lady when Ezio is trying to get to Venice for the first time. And actually it might be the other way around and such, so the loop might be extremely weird and stuff. But thanks for thinking that my story is interesting, that makes me feel better cause I was getting worried that people weren't liking the story since they weren't reviewing. So like in my other stories, if you review I will thank you her on the next chapter. Please come back and read.  
**


	4. Please read

**Author's note: I am sorry to say this but my story will have to be on hold until November 16 till I'll update again(unless I can find a way to finish chapter four without Ezio or any of the other characters showing up/ so pay attention) . The thing is I don't want to get anything wrong from the new installment of Assassin's Creed "Brotherhood". But don't worry I will return and you will see more of Rhea and Ezio :D. So please understand where I am coming from, can't wait to see you then. And hey, If I feel like it I may return to the previous chapter and beef them up with detail. **

**Thanks to my buddies Shebly and Chelsea. Shelby for editing my story, and Chelsea for fixing my summery so that it seems better.**

**And one more thing before I go: okay I need to write out my feelings about this. Sorry to the guy who posted the review I have to bring this up even though we (I don't Know if we really did) resolve this. Okay so the night I posted "Owlet's Flight" I was overjoyed at how long the chapter was and how I finally got a review (thank you SliverFoxQueen) from another reader abut close to midnight says And I quote**

"**Really! Brand of the sex slVe! For shame you haertless bastards! Burn/cut it off right now! At the very leAst have a soldier hit her in the leg to cut it in half you monster ! You don't disrespect the main character on pain of flaming! Those ore the unwritten rules of conduct!**

Other thAn that keep up the good work"

**Okay, prepare for the ranting to begin:**** so for one thing, I checked this guy's profile. No stories ever written by this guy, so one how does he know the rules of conduct for a writer. Here's the thing I far as I know there aren't any, so don't get in a hissy fit about this because you have no right to talk (especially with the typos are you twelve or something D:). Second, I don't know if you realize this but when you are the writer **_**YOU ARE GOD**_**. End of story, it the writer's decision on what happens to you main character so I am not sorry if you feel so upset about the whole branding thing, but that is what I wanted to happen.**

**You see if you have you main girl only experience only good things, she become the biggest Mary-sue on the planet. But if you main girl only experiences the bad things, she then becomes the biggest emo (like a certain duck-butt haired idiot from a series that I read). So you need the balance so that your character becomes a humble, so then the story can run smoothly with it bumps and every now and again sudden burst of blood thirst (somewhat foreshadow xD). **

**So there, I'm done. So for my regular readers do come back, and please don't do anything stupid to the reviewer who irked me at 1:57 in the morning….so please stay tuned a new chapter may come out or it may not, the chapter may be beefed up with more detail or not. Please leave comments cause I sure do love them. Especially if you want to tell me something about my whole shpeel above this paragraph, love to hear back from you guys. **

**Until the next update and November 16****th ****. GO ASSASSINS **


	5. Goddess's Whim

**Author's note: Hey I'm back woooooo, this is the new installment of Letters of the Laien so please enjoy. Though I don't have much to say but this, all my readers who reviews gets a big hug from me.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original Assassin's Creed Characters for they belong to ubisoft.**

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The walk through the stone corridors of the Assassin bureau was as usual; dark, damp, and had the sounds of clashing swords of novices. Rhea pulled back her hood, letting her tied hair feel the cool damp air of the stone corridor. As the master level assassin passed the underground training ring, the light of the lanterns showed the large scar that marred her face, she examined the boys and a few girls cheering each other on as they fought with their well experienced master. Those who weren't watching to the fights bowed in respect of the female assassin, and she gave them a short bow in return, acknowledging their respect. The boys smiled cheekily and pevertedly as woman smiled warmly before moving on to the master assassin's office. The younger boys thought the idea of a beautiful woman around was great to look at, until their masters yelled at them for being disrespectful brats and horny misfits, while the girls looked at them as if the world was doomed to be protected by these buffoons.

Rhea could only stifle her laugh with her gloved hand; it was so funny watch the teenagers act stupidly. Especially when it was her turn to train the novices, for she would only walk out in her trousers, a corset and chest bindings. The other men would ask her to quit it but her excuse was that she was training them to ignore the desires women on the street could throw at them, and they couldn't argue with that. Rhea took her train of thought away from that as she continued on, thinking of what the masters would say about her success of the mission the night before. After taking a few rights and a left, the corridor opened up into a large room filled with large shelves full of scrolls and books. In the center on the room were three desks set up in a semi circle, and in each desk sat a man at least in his late fifties to early sixties. Each of them had a slightly happy look on his face.

The man on the left, Anker, spoke his eyes smiling under the shadow of his large white hood. "Rhea, excellent job in your last mission. The gods have blessed you in your art of assassination my dear."

"As always you have done things in the fashion of which the people will learn that the men we kill are evil and greedy." Sofronio, the man in the middle, added but he still held a pissed off look, or a look of constipation. Rhea could never tell, but she kept a straight face as she would look at the men who talked to her with obedience. She never spoke out in front of these men, for last time she did they set her against all of the masters to fight until she behaved. That was when she first got to Sparta.

"Thank you masters Anker and Sofronio. I only take your praise as instructions to motivate my ways of being an assassin." Rhea responded in a grateful voice as she bowed; her body in a near perfect perpendicular shape. She stayed in this position until one of the masters was to tell her otherwise.

"Enough of this congratulating you two, it will go to her head and make her a vain and a disastrous assassin." The last master, Zelotes, barked. He motioned for Rhea to stand up straight with a flick of his withered wrist. She stood, knowing that this old fashioned man had a bone to pick with her. "Rhea Allocco, like my colleagues, I do congratulate you on your swift extermination of Idas. You did the right thing having his body placed for the gods to see, but to move onto other business. The request you set for the repositioning of yourself back to Italia." Rhea's eyes shut in anticipation, praying to whoever would listen to her for the answer yes. "And we have decided to deny you of your request."

Rhea's eyes opened and widened in shock, her hope now dangling on a single spider's silk thread. The masters denied her the only way to return to Italy, to Leonardo, and to that man.

"Sir, not to question your judgment, but why? Have I not earned the ability to go where ever I please as long as I keep the peace of the people plentiful?" Rhea spoke, resisting the urge to scream at the old man.

"Hmph, it is only a man's privilege for completing such tasks that you have, not including those disgusting seduction missions you took part of." Zelotes spat. "You privilege is to stop on your career as an assassin and focus on having children that can hopefully become assassins as well. And on the upside for you, you have plenty of men to choose from."

Rhea had to bite her tongue as the old man said this, this happened every year. The man would bug her that she was old and that she needed to get married and have children. She just turned thirty two this morning and the man was already bugging her about this. The other two masters looked at Zelotes with a roll of their eyes.

"Rhea you see, we would rather have you here. In case if the Templars were to come back with a full on assault on Greece, and if that does happen we need the Fury to unleash her whip and kill our enemies." Sofronio interjected before Rhea could yell at the elder assassin.

"But the people have learned of the Templars and are ready to fight for their freedom against these men. The Fury has given them the motivation to fight for what they wish. And the Templars have felt the strength of the Assassins of Greece, they will not return for the fear of being demolished. What they focus on is on the nation of Italia, they need help. So why not send me to aid them in their fight against Rodrigo?" Rhea argued, fisting her hands so tight that her knuckles began to turn white.

"The Fury has given them hope, but what if when they need you the most and you are not there. Your disappearance will crush their hope and make them defenseless once again. And Italy can take care of themselves, Rodrigo may still be alive and causing mayhem in Roma, but Ezio Auditore will take care of him. Now quit being selfish." Zelotes ordered. Rhea looked down and took a quick glance at her master Anker. He held no emotion, he did not speak, he just sat there as Rhea was slapped by words and old customs of her people.

"My apologies master Zelotes, I will not act selfishly any more. Shall I take my leave?" Zelotes nodded yes, and Rhea spun on the ball of her right foot and left the room. The two other masters could only look at Rhea in pity, both were old fashioned, but not like Zelotes.

"Stupid woman, this is what happens when you educate them." The eldest assassin spat as he left his desk to gather a group of Arabian scrolls to be deciphered.

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Rhea stomped down the hallway back to the training ring, her hair falling in small strands from her braided bun. A few of the informers went up to her warily to ask what had happened, but all see did was glare at them with her ice eyes. The informers froze where they stood as if turned to stone in fear, showing the actions that led to her other nick name other than being called "the Fury" for her appearance as an assassin, Rhea was also known as "the Gorgon" by her friends for when she glared at anybody, they all swore that her hair would resemble angry snakes. Rhea walked past the frightened men to the exit of the bureau to the sunshine.

"Rhea, wait a minute will you?" She looked behind her to see Master Anker. He sadly smiled at the girl as he walked next to the fuming woman.

"What is it Master?" Rhea answered continuing forward as her master walked her to the surface.

"I know why you are upset, and I can relate. Mater Zelotes has always been overly old fashioned, remember when you first joined the force?" The old man said patting the taller girl on the back, due to age the man had shrunk from six foot three to five-foot seven. While Rhea had stopped growing until she hit six feet in height, as tall as the men her age here. Rhea did remember the fit Zelotes had thrown of the "Audacity of a woman becoming an assassin like the men", she snorted at the thought and still kept her angered face in place. "Didn't I tell you that it is unladylike to snort like a man?"

"I can snort all I want or is it against the code of women to do it?" Rhea sarcastically replied, snorting again to annoy her master. The master only rolled his eyes at the defiant woman; the woman who used to be his apprentice. Anker was a Grecian-Persian mix so he taught Rhea and two other men on the ways of assassination from both countries, which also explained Rhea's claw dagger tail. When they arrived to the door to the surface, master Anker embraced Rhea in a bear hug, he may be shorter but that man could squeeze the crap out of anyone. Rhea giggled slightly and hugged back, she knew that this was the last time that she might see her old master.

"Now, may your ancestors and the gods watch over you on your journeys, and don't worry about Zelotes. I'm sure if I convince Sofronio, we can gang up on him, so don't worry little one." Rhea smiled of the thought of going back to her old home. With a soft thank you, Rhea walked out into the sunlight of a December morning in Athens. Pulling her hood back over her head, Rhea walked to the entrance of the Parthenon and to her horse that stood in the grass lazily grazing on it. Altair's black hair glinted in the sunlight as the assassin walk towards him and patted the large horse on his withers.

Altair was a large black Arabian with a splotch of white in his chest, and that splotch was the reason for his name. The white was in the shape of an eagle in flight, and Rhea wanted to honor the assassin of old after learning about him. Feeling the presence of his master, Altair stopped eating and turned so he could nuzzle Rhea lovingly. Rhea petted his nose with extra care, showing how the woman felt.

"Altair, you ready for the long trek home?" Rhea asked as she patted his neck. He snorted in annoyance, knowing that he was probably going to have to run for the rest of the day and into the night. "Oh come on you big baby, your bred for these kinds of things. Besides, soon you'll be home where you can eat all of the grass that you want" Altair nudged her. Rolling eyes at the horse's behavior, Rhea hopped onto the horse and directed him down the hill, to the main road, to Corinth. Once Altair's hooves met the dirt, Rhea nudged him to a slow canter to the west, to home.

* * *

The travel to the west took a total of three days, one to make it past Corinth and two to make it over the mountains to a small fishing village. And from there a short boat ride to her home island, and like usual it was a peaceful sunny day when she arrived back home. When Rhea had first returned to her home, the house was made out of wood instead of the stone that they used to be, the stalls were shaky but strong and the people had recovered from their past. But now the island had returned to its former glory and better, cobble stones made the roads and the houses were made from the strongest stone in the Greek isles. Rhea made sure of it, and from the reopening of the winery and the horse breeding, life and the economy was booming.

People gave her hellos and warm greetings as she walked past them, they all knew her profession and didn't really care. Actually almost everyone was glad that she was fighting for her people and others on the main land. And so when the assassin was to come home after months of being in the main land, a few parties were held or just gifts were given to her. It made her happy for Rhea to know that she was being appreciated by the people on her island. She continued walking through the town, pulling Altair behind her making sure that he wasn't going to get into the produce stalls as they walked by.

Rhea continued up the road to her villa, watching the afternoon turning into night as she began trekking through the fields of tall grass. One of the field workers spotted his employer and ran up to her; no words were exchanged as she handed the reins to the seventeen year old boy. Altair snorted as the last of his equipment was removed allowing him to trot off into the fields to join his herd. Rhea thanked the boy by giving him some extra money and continued walking to her home.

Her greaves made a soft tapping noise as she walked through the entrance of her home, alerting one of the few people who actually worked in the villa, who looked up from her task of dusting off an ancient piece of pottery.

"Ma'am, good to see you, how was your last mission?" Tatiana asked, the girl was also an Italian-Grecian so the two of them got along pretty well.

"It went well Tatiana, thank you for the greeting as well. How long is it until supper?" Rhea asked shedding her cloak and walking into her father's study.

"I haven't started yet, so it will take about two hours. I'm sorry I should have started sooner." The girl replied.

"No no, it's fine. You didn't know that I was coming back so it's alright. Plus it gives me a good amount of time to take a long soak." Rhea smiled at the younger woman, Tatiana had turned 21 this past November and was soon going to be married to one of the fishermen around her age in three months. Rhea frowned a bit, she probably wouldn't be home for that. "Tatiana, can you get one of the other girls to get my clothing as I bathe so they can be washed? That would help me out so much if you would." Tatiana nodded as Rhea walked out of the study with some scrolls and books in hand and up the marble steps to her room. Rhea now inhabited the room that belonged to her parents before their death; it still held an aura of love and comfort making it a great place to sleep.

Rhea dumped the scrolls and other paper objects on her bed and walked to a changing screen in the corner of the room. Hanging there was a pretty sheer Grecian dress for going to the baths behind the house. The woman slipped off her greaves first and then untying the ribbons to her burgundy and gold corset, Rhea let out a content sigh as she took off the blasted piece of women's clothing. She rubbed her stomach to release her abs from stress of wearing the damned thing for so long. She then removed her gloves, bracers containing her hidden blades and then her weapons belts.

Finally she removed her shirt and her pants, and to Rhea's delight over the years of returning to Greece, her body had finally filled out into a well proportioned state, her breasts and hips growing to a size to fit the well muscled body the woman lived in, she was no longer a twig. Rhea shivered as a small breeze entered into her room and hit her sweaty body as she slipped into her bath house dress, once finished, she walked from the screen with her clothes in hand and placed them in a wicker basket to be picked up by another girl to be washed. Finally, Rhea left her room and walked down the stairs to the back door to the baths.

Now the baths, long ago used to be a part of the large temple which now sat at the bottom of the cliff in the sea, so they were designed with a woman's touch, medium springs of hot and warm water were placed around one large pool of cold water, where one could swim to the very bottom of twenty feet. One was supposed to swim in the cold bath to remove dirt and grime from the body before resting in the smaller hotter pools of relaxing water.

Shedding the dress, Rhea slipped her olive, scar littered body in to the cool water as she shuddered and skin tensed into goose bumps. As she sunk lower, a layer of dirt drifted off the woman making her feel wonderful. Rhea swam around a bit in a small circle before diving down into the depths of the pool to rub down her body of anything, and the only to enjoy the sensation of feeling weightless under the cold water. After a few minutes of swimming around and twirling around in the water, Rhea swam to a shallow part of the pool to get out. Water ran down the woman's body in small rivers of droplets that ran down every curve that the muscle stretched her skin to conform. Rhea's body had filled out, legs lean and muscular along with well built arms, stomach flat with the showing of well defined abs. All of the muscle was from training so hard and eating more Greek rich meals, it was no lie. The food that she ate in difference to the Italian food was richer and more in quantity, her grandmother had declared that the Greek gods only gave her the body she now possessed by since she had returned home after so many years. Rhea literally had the body of a goddess of the hunt.

The assassin walked over to the last standing wall where little shelves of stone with small personal baskets were for everyone that live or work for Rhea, Rhea grabbed her personal basket and walked to the most outer pool which stood under the stars. The pool was also in the sight of the grape vines where she could watch the workers or they could watch her, at that thought Rhea didn't care if any of them saw her naked. Being an assassin, one had to forget and break down the walls of insecurity to become a full fledged killer who would never miss.

Rhea sighed as the kinks in her body loosened at the heat the surrounded her body as he slipped lower into the pool, sitting on the wall so the she wouldn't slide all the way down. Her basket sat at the edge of the hot spring, containing the cosmetic needs of any woman and bath oils and soaps for her body and hair. Rhea wasted no time in taking care of her womanly cosmetic needs, using the wax and other such things: all the pain staking processes for beauty.

After all of the painful things were out of the way, and hour wasted on it, Rhea began to cleanse her body with the bath oils that smelled of lavender and other flowery smells. As she reached her legs, Rhea gently touched the brand that marked her inner thigh. Every time she touched it, she saw the flaming metal melt her skin to conform to its shape and curve. She relived the smell of burning and dying flesh enters her noise, and she wanted to scream out again for the pain that she felt. The pain of being slashed by a rusty, searing hot iron that marked and shaped her life to what it was. Every single time it was touched by her, she felt these sensations of pain and agony, and she could only imagine what would happen if she were to be touched by a man there. Would she remember those things, would she feel them if she ever tried to have sex? Rhea shuddered at that thought, especially about having intercourse.

Rhea shook her head of all sexual thoughts and focused on finishing her bath. She rubbed gently in her hair and on fresher scars, like the new one that went from her right shoulder and made a large semi-circle on her torso. The scar was also mirrored on her back and it looked like someone had stabbed her with multiple knifes in equal intervals. For she wasn't stabbed, she was bitten by the shark that had nearly claimed her life so many years ago. At the age of twenty, Rhea had decided to perform the leap of faith off the cliff in which she did, and she had swam deeper into the water to see the temple below, completely forgetting about its guardian. Well she prayed the price as Thantos had appeared from the vast ocean and had attacked her, Rhea was placed in a state of shock as soon as the first blow hit her. The large demon fish was prepared to eat her until Nick had dove into the water with a dagger in hand and stabbed the shark in the eye, releasing her and swimming off to find easier pray. Nick had spent that night lecturing her along with his fretting wife Athena, as Rhea slipped in and out of consciousness.

Rhea growled at the thought of Nick, sure he was the boy who "saved" Athena's and Rhea's life by standing up to Alejandro when on that ship long ago. But to Rhea, he had become an pompous asshole from hell just to torment her, he always acted all noble and strict. But what really made her blood boil was that he was going to inherit her grandfather's ship and whole fleet when the old man would retire. Not that Rhea wanted it, in fact she didn't want it but is was the fact that Nick was getting it. But she grudgingly behaved around him for Athena, his fire spirited, very sexual, green eyed and red haired wife. Athena had become the most beautiful woman on the island with her sparkling green eyes and fire red hair. But she was a spite fire like Rhea and enjoyed annoying the 32 year old virgin about how great her husband was in bed and how Rhea should find a man who could please the sexual needs of a woman. Rhea would only blush and cover her face with her hands.

"Ms. Rhea, dinner is ready. You forgot you towel again, and are you alright?" Tatiana asked as she handed her employer the large fluffy towel. Rhea's face was scarlet red as she remembered he long and stressful conversation Rhea had with Athena about "what type" of sexual pleasure Rhea would prefer. She had actually embraced Nick when he had interrupted them and ran out the house to leap into the ocean.

"Y-y-yes, I am perfectly fine Tatiana, and thank you for telling me." Rhea stuttered as she took the towel while standing out of the water, then wrapping the large piece of cloth around her body. Tatiana gave her a weird look. "It's none of your concern, now go back inside." Tatiana nodded and walked back to the villa while stifling a laugh in her head. Rhea huffed and rolled her eyes as she took her basket and placed it on its regular spot. Drying off, Rhea returned to where she had left her dress, but she had noticed she still had a few suds in her hair still. Kneeling down by the large cold pool, Rhea dunked her head in the water and scrubbed the suds all out. When she resurfaced Rhea spotted the weirdest thing, it looked like a woman was standing at the other side of the baths but she had a silver glow. Rhea squinted her eyes to make out the shape of a large stag behind her and that she had a long bow in her hands. Rhea blinked to see the person had gone. "Strange" Rhea muttered as she pulled her dress on and walked back to the house.

* * *

Dinner was a nice meal of roasted beef and potatoes and a fresh salad, and it was finished with a nice glass of red wine with Melopita. Everything Rhea could ever want coming home, and she thanked Tatiana for her great works as a cook. The night rolled on and the rest of the staff returned to their homes, leaving the assassin in her home alone, not that she really cared, she would just fight off thieves or such who would decide to interrupt her research of the old scrolls and books.

In the midst of reading an scroll written by the assassin Malik, the candles began to flicker ever so slightly. Rhea ignored the changes in light as she continued to read the scroll, only pausing to take off her bath dress and to slip into her sleeping gown. The candles finally were blown out, slightly surprising to the woman as she climbed into bed. An owl was heard outside of her room before things started to go extremely weird. The walls seemed to be melting into darkness, turning into clouds of black and gray. Her bed disappeared and she fell on her butt, yelping out loud as she was dumped onto hard stone. In four areas of the room things appeared. An owl, dove, stag, and a goldenrod each at their own spot in the room; Rhea looked at each thing before each began to glow in their own respective colors and grow into women of great beauty. Four of the goddess of Olympia now stood before the dumbfounded Rhea; it was only Aphrodite who was disdained at the mortal's expression.

"Hmph, I really don't see how Hermes and the other gods think that this mortal can challenge the beauty of a goddess. Her hair is too black and her eyes hold no emotion. Not even counting the ugly scars that mar her body." The goddess of love, lust and beauty commented as she circled the assassin. "Not to mention that she takes up an ugly profession."

"Now Aphrodite, don't go on another beauty rant. Last time that happened, the Trojan War had sprung out." Artemis interjected, nudging Rhea to her feet with her log bow. Rhea stumbled up, only to drop to her knees and bow to the goddesses that had graced her with their presence. All but Aphrodite did was look at her with sympathy.

"Stand up Rhea, daughter of Stephan and Thiea Allocco. We all have something to say to you, and it concerns your very destiny." Hestia commented, taking a hold of the mortal's hand and helping her back up. Rhea could feel the godly warmth emit from her as she helped her up, once standing Hestia let go and conjured a hearth to warm up the space. Rhea looked at each goddess, Athena with brown hair, tall, lean, olive skinned, and storm gray eyes full of wisdom. Aphrodite; blonde, pale, slim, and face painted with make-up, and eyes of blue skies. Artemis; auburn hair, silver eyes, tall and fit, and glowing with skin as pale as the moon. And finally Hestia, back hair like her own, red eyes, pale. All of them images women would kill to be.

"Not to be rude, but why are you here?" Rhea somewhat squeaked, not quite knowing what to say and also scared if she might utter anything wrong to insult them. Athena only chuckled a bit before answering the assassin's question.

"Getting strait to the point, aren't we Fury?" Athena retorted, musing at Rhea nickname. Rhea hung her head a bit in embarrassment. The three virgin goddesses laughed slightly and smiled at the mortal.

"It's quite alright young one, you are just excited and greatly worried for what we have in store for you." Hestia commented as she stoked the fire with a prodding rod. "Athena was originally going to come by herself, so let her explain everything before we each take our turn." The goddess of the hearth then summoned a stool for each of them to sit on.

"Now onto business, Rhea as you may or may not know there are the pieces of Eden which can control man or have other powers with unbelievable possibilities. And the Templars are trying to obtain these items to control the minds of all of mankind in this world. Now you may not know this, but under your home is a long tunnel that leads to the temple that is underwater. Closest to the cliff is the treasure room where a certain puzzle box is hidden, you must get this puzzle box, for it holds a fragment of one of the pieces of Eden. You must protect it at all costs and place the broken pieces together before giving it to the prophet." Athena explained.

"The prophet? Who is this prophet?" Rhea asked, getting a strange feeling that she wasn't going to like the result.

"It is the assassin Ezio Auditore da Firenze. " Athena answered spotting the grimace on the human's face. "You seemed angered by this, why? Are you jealous of the fact that he is of a great importance to the future?"

"No! No that's not it." Rhea paused as she stood and walked a bit away facing away from the goddess of war, "Okay maybe it is, it's just that why him? He is a descendant of one of the greatest assassins of all time Altair, he's going to be the leader of all assassins mostly likely, and on top if that he's this great prophet that I have to help." Rhea bit her lip from yelling profanities about the man, and also to still her fluttering heart.

"Is that all? Rhea you have done so much compared to him, you have nearly single handedly freed the whole nation of Greece in the time of fourteen years. And none the less a woman, you should not be jealous." Hestia softly said, her coal red eyes reflecting the light of the fire.

"But it is a human emotion that no one can escape." Rhea whispered as she sat back down, angered at her outburst.

"That is not the only reason," Aphrodite mused as she summoned her robe and wrapped it around her shoulders. The love goddess stood behind the assassin, who was scared for what she would say. "You see my dear friends, is that this woman, is in love and lusts after Ezio Auditore da Firenze. And she doesn't want to see him again if she has to give something of hers after having her heart broken." Aphrodite laughed to herself, thinking about the drama of the meeting of the two assassins could bring.

"That does not matter Aphrodite, all she needs to focus on her assassinations that is all. Rhea does not need to trouble herself with petty thing like love when she should be focusing on vengeance for her people." Artemis argued, letting loose a loud argument about the fat of Rhea. The human only groaned and stuck her face in her hands in annoyance. Hestia looked at the two younger goddess bicker in their own little world, then turned her head to see Rhea trying not to scream in anguish.

"Can you tell me why Aphrodite is here to talk about my destiny when all she is doing is making fun of me?" Rhea growled through her fingers.

"Well Athena was originally going to come by herself, but Artemis and I wanted to meet you. But Aphrodite was bored of her husband and came with us." Hestia smiled as Rhea rubbed her face before looking at the two seated goddess. "If you want my opinion Rhea, stay true to your mission and when it is complete follow your heart. But be true to yourself, don't strain yourself to be with a man who won't only look at you when he says he loves you." The goddess patted Rhea's knee before melting away into the darkness along with the stools and hearth. Artemis and Aphrodite were next to phase away, still bickering only with the volume gradually growing. Athena was last to go, but before she left she said and gave something to Rhea.

"I would suggest leaving now to the temple, and take this," She handed Rhea a strange handful of wet weeds. "When you enter the water, consume this and it will let you breathe under water for an hour and one hour only. It is close to dawn and Thantos shouldn't be out so go now."

"But wait, how do I it get to the tunnel?"

"The same way you used to steal your father's shoes. And don't worry about swimming to the temple, someone will help you." With that Athena disappeared, and the room returned to normal with Rhea sitting in her bed again. The owl hooted again before taking off in flight. Rhea threw off her covers and went to the tile that she used to take her father's things from, it lifted with ease, showing a trunk. Rhea pulled it from the hole to find a ladder that was built into the wall of the hole. The assassin reached for a candle that was still lit and slowly descended into the hole.

It wasn't until four minutes of climbing down Rhea stood on the floor of the tunnel, and not wasting time she walked down the path strangely lit by oil lamps till the tunnel opened into a large cavernous room. The floor slanted down into the ocean below making the water seem ominous. Rhea put down her candle and slowly made her way to the water, once knee deep she swallowed the god awful weeds and plunged into the depths. As Rhea tried to swim into the ocean, she couldn't really move her body. A great pain was surging through and it made her want to throw up, Rhea struggled to keep her mouth shut until it was too unbearable. She coughed, inhaling a bunch of water, but Rhea realized that it felt like she had gulped in a bunch of oxygen. Opening her mouth, she breathed realizing that the plant had given her the ability to breath under the water. Rhea descended into Smiling at the goddess's planning the depths to the temple.

The darkness made it nearly impossible to see where she was going and Rhea knew that she should have at least been the in courtyard by now. Plus the thought of Thantos still lurking around scared her to death, but her thoughts were interrupted by a whinny from behind her. Rhea twirled around to see a strange animal behind her, it had a horse's front but the end of a fish, a hippocampi. It shook its silvery mane at her and swam closer for her to take a hold of the mane. Once Rhea weirdly mounted the sea horse, it took off, deeper into the depth making her ears pop uncomfortably and finally reaching the temple.

Walls and pillars were housing life, fish, and crabs of all kind, even sharks swam around, all avoiding the woman and the hippocampi. The strange sea creature made a sudden sharp left into a room that looked like it was ready to fall down into small pebbles, but even when Rhea tried to protest the hippocampi continued forward. They were both shrouded in darkness as the horse continued swimming deeper and deeper until it stopped in a dimly lit room, the room was covered in treasures of all kinds. There were deteriorating scrolls, beautifully woven tapestries, and gold and jeweled objects everywhere in the room. Rhea tried not to stare at the treasures inside, but apparently she did because the hippocampi nudged her to focus on what they were there for.

It had taken a good amount of time before Rhea had unearthed the puzzle box. The object itself was made out of a mix of bronze and gold, and it had random little circles on it which seemed to be like buttons. Rhea tried to examine it but as she breathed in like she had been before, she choked on the water and began to realize that the weed's effects were wearing off and that if she didn't get to the surface soon she would drown. The hippocampi noticed her struggling and swam over to her, Rhea grabbed on as she slipped the puzzle box in the top of her dress. When the Hippocampi felt the human grab on, he took off at neck breaking speed out of the room and up to the surface. Rhea struggled to hold her breath to prevent anymore water to seep past her lips, but only very few droplets got past hurting her lungs. Rhea's eyes saw the surface coming closer and closer for the light of dawn was illuminating the ocean as time passed.

The assassin gasped loudly as her head finally broke the surface of the ocean, and when air entered her lungs she coughed up the water that had painfully entered lungs. The hippocampi turned it's silvery head at the woman before swimming towards the town, and Rhea hung on to keep herself up on the surface. The rising sun looked beautifully on the water. The sea creature took her on the far side of the town for her to get out. The spot she was able to get out was actually pretty close to Athena's house, and when Rhea finally stood on solid ground she looked back at the hippocampi.

"Thank you friend, and tell the person who sent you thank you as well." Rhea said, and the creature whinnied before diving back into the ocean. She chuckled to herself as she walked to Athena's home, once there she lightly tapped on the wooden door. After a few minutes Athena opened the door half asleep.

"Rhea what are you doing here at this time? And why are you wet in your bed gown?" Athena yawned as she opened the door wider for her friend to enter the medium sized house. "Come in, Nick won't be home until late this afternoon."

* * *

"Thanks Ath, and boy do I have a story to tell." Rhea sat down at the table as Athena went to find some clothes big enough to fit her friend. And once she was changed and tea was prepared, Rhea told her wacky story from beginning to end in explicit detail. Athena's daughter had woken up as Rhea finished her tale about the ocean adventure, and Hemera had taken her spot in her mother's lap.

"So you are telling me that four goddess visited you in the dead of night to tell you what you must do and that you went to the underwater temple to fetch one of the many treasures down there on the back of a hippocampi? How the hell am I to believe that?" Athena asked as she bounced her five year old daughter on her knee. Hemera was a beautiful mix of her parents, red hair like her mother and steel gray eyes like her father.

"I don't know why I think it was real myself, but it was and how do you explain the puzzle box. We all know that it had belonged to the priestess before the temple had sunk. How do you explain that?" Rhea sighed as she sipped from her third cup of tea, the stuff that Athena got was addictive. Athena rubbed her forehead and then patted her daughter on the top of her head.

"I don't know, I mean not saying that I'm not a believer, but why would the gods come back after Christianity has been the new religion that just about everyone is worshipping? It all seems to confusing to me, but I am all up for you ripping that man a part limb from limb."

"I know what you mean, and don't worry I will. But it seems that they came because it will affect not only Italia but the whole world, and Ezio can't possibly do it alone." Rhea said, Athena smirked evilly before sending her daughter back to her room.

"So now your speaking about Ezio? So are you going to pursue him like Aphrodite suggested? Or are you just going to sit around and be horny in Rome?" Athena laughed as Rhea chocked on her hot tea. Rhea glared at her friend who she considered her sister.

"Why the fuck must this conversation always come up? I mean every time we talk, it is almost always about sex or something related to it!" Rhea griped as she drank her tea. Athena daintily sipped her tea before continuing on this prolonged conversation.

"One, I like seeing you freak out about little things like this because you get so heated that it is too cute to ignore." Rhea gave her a confused look when she said that this topic was "little". "And second, because I want you to enjoy your life, so I am educating you in the ways mothers should. I don't want you first experience to be painful, but I think Ezio knows how make a virgin's first time pleasurable. Especially after what you have told me about him." Rhea slammed her head on the table before giving out an exasperated sigh.

"Why do you keep thinking that Ezio is going to be my first? Athena you know I won't just sleep with a man before I am married. Beside the masters won't let me go back to Italia even if I wanted to" Rhea explained, rubbing her temples. She placed the puzzle box in a leather belt sack that Athena had borrowed earlier in the year.

"Athena just has a gut feeling that you will marry this guy since you talk so fondly of him." Nick's voice came from the door. Both women turned to see the pirate walk into the room with a letter in hand.

"Darling, I wasn't expecting you till later today. Was the raid successful?" Athena greeted as she walked over to her husband and kissed him lovingly. Nicolas, his true name, was a good 6'2'' in height. He had jet black hair that he kept tied back in a small pony-tail, and steel gray eyes that could pierce one's soul very easily.

"It went well. And I see that Rhea has come to pick up Hemera early?" Nick commented as he embraced his wife lovingly, well, the cold way he does it.

"What? Oh yeah don't worry, while you too have your alone time, she and I are going to have loads of fun." Rhea yawned as Hemera came out of her room with a small satchel with her things for the night, The assassin picked up the small child and put her on her shoulders.

"Wait, before you go, an informant told me to give this to you. It's supposed to be from your master." Nick gave the thick letter to Rhea and patted his daughter on the head. "Now you go get some sleep, the both of you." He ordered, noticing how both of them were tired.

"Yeah yeah, we'll take a nice cat nap Daddy. Don't worry she'll be safe while having fun, who do you think you are talking too?" Rhea smirked as she walked out with the giggling Hemera on her shoulders. They first walked in silence as Hemera was braiding little braids in Rhea's black hair, but she was having trouble with the curls that Rhea's unruly hair took shape to. "I would give up sweetie, I've tried myself. It nearly impossible to make braids that small Hun."

"I know, but I still want to try at least to see if it will work someday." Hemera said as she undid her crappy braids and eventually waved at some of the younger kids in the town as Rhea walked down the path. They made couple of stops on the way, like the toy and produce stands, and also the smithy and the tailor for a new pair of bracers and a lot of fabric for a project Rhea wanted to do to pass the time. And on the last part of the trip Hemera was bugging Rhea about details of her last mission

"So who did you take out in Athens, a really big baddie?" Hemera asked, now attempting to braid a flower crown as she walked beside Rhea.

"I killed Idas, and yes he was a really bad person. And he was the biggest in all of Greece, so do you know what that means?" Rhea answered looking down at the smiling red head.

"Is all of Greece free from the Templars?"

"Yes, so I won't have to leave for a good while. And that means more riding lessons for you." Hemera's eyes sparkled with delight of that thought. Rhea only smiled, Hemera was the true reason Rhea had hope for the future. More girls like her actually being raised by her parents were good for her mind and emotions. And that would mean better leaders for this island. It wasn't too long till the two of them reached the villa and had lunch in the kitchen with the cooks all cooing over Hemera's cuteness.

Hours had passed with the two first taking a nap out in the field, then riding horses around the grounds of the winery and house. After many shenanigans the two enjoyed dinner before sitting on Rhea's bed in their bed gowns, with Rhea sharing more stories of her assassinations that the little girl would always bug her to tell them.

"Come on come on, another story please." The little girl whined as Rhea was tickling her. She stopped to let the young girl breathe and giggle out all of her energy.

"No, the other stories aren't meant for little girls. Your mom can tell you when you're older." Hemera began to put by sticking out her bottom lips and unleashing the puppy eyes. Rhea only rolled her eyes and ruffled the girl's red hair. "Hemera, what have I told you about pouting?"

"If flirting won't make you bend, neither will pouting." Hemera recited as she heavily laid on her back A thought came to her head, "What about the special letter that you got today? What does it say?" She piped up. Rhea chuckled to herself, got up and retrieved the letter from the night stand. Hemera cuddled into Rhea's lap as she began to read the letter out loud.

_My most accomplished student,_

_ I have good news, master Sofronio has agreed to allow you with your request to relocate to Italy for we have over ruled Zelotes with our decision. But much must be done before you leave so I have instructions for you my child, for you must follow them accordingly:_

_ In one week you must leave your Island for Flori and from there you must go by horse back to Roma. This will take you a long time, but we have a house by the coliseum where you will stay until the Templars are wiped from Italy. This may take years so be prepared to there for a long time. My child you must also help Ezio if he needs the help that you can provide. May the gods ease the burdens on your shoulders for it will be a long journey. And do not worry of your items at the bureau for as we speak they are traveling to your new home._

_ Go with the wind child,_

_ Master Anker_

Hemera was silent at the end of the letter, thinking to herself about the new information. On the other side Rhea was overjoyed to hear such good news, her master had come through for her and her dream was coming true. She looked down at Hemera who was sulking in her spot on the bed. She was going to ask until the girl answered her.

"I don't want you to go _θεία_ Rhea, you just got back and I don't want you to go." The little girl buried her face in Rhea's lap to conceal tears.

"Awww, is little Hemera going to miss me? That's too sweet." Rhea smiled as she picked up the girl and hugged her.

"NO! I'm just worried who else will teach me to ride horses!" Hemera exclaimed as she pushed away from Rhea and sat pouting. Obviously lying, Rhea chuckled and pulled the girl to back and had them both lay down as she pulled the covers over Hemera after she extinguished the lights.

"Yeah yeah Hemera I know you'll miss your _θεία_. Now go to sleep, we need to be up tomorrow in the morning for when your parents come and get you." Rhea said as she lay down next to the girl. Hemera was actually too tired to argue, but she had a small conversation before drifting off.

"Promise me one thing."

"What's that?"

"Next time when you come home, can you bring with you a cousin for me to play with." Rhea looked at the girl as if she was crazy.

"What?"

"I don't want you to be lonely anymore, and the letter said it might be years until you return so please get married and have a baby because I know that you are so lonely. Mommy says a baby makes everything better, and happier. So please don't be lonely anymore."Hemera drifted off say one last thing. "Bring back twins" Rhea chuckled lightly as she hugged the sleeping girl to her body and drifted off herself.

* * *

The next morning, Rhea had left Hemera to sleep as she was dressed and working on some forms for the two businesses she ran. The puzzle box sat on the desk, acting as a paperweight while she signed multiple forms of all kinds. She kept scribbling away with her eagle feather pen until someone cleared their throat. Rhea looked up from behind her bangs to see Nick with his arms around his glowing wife. Athena had this calm smile about her that meant one thing.

"Have fun yesterday? Oh let me guess where you guys had it, the private cove or in the bedroom, or better yet the bathhouse." Rhea jeered as Nick glared at the woman intently as she continued to write a few things down before stopping and pushing two forms to the couple.

"What's this?" Athena asked, she and Nick were given pens and showed them where to sign their name. Rhea didn't speak until both had signed the forms.

"Just think of them as late wedding anniversary gifts." Nick and Athena looked at her weirdly until they both read what they were given. Athena looked at her friend in surprise.

"You're giving us the horse farm and the winery. But why?" Athena asked absolutely having no idea what Rhea was doing.

"Well, I want to you to have a good life and I might not come back from this mission that I was assigned. So I want you to take care of them while I'm gone, so they are yours to run." Rhea stated as she took the forms as long with some other papers and put them in one of the keeping books.

"Mission? But you just got back. When are you leaving?" Nick asked seeing that his wife was still in shock about getting the two biggest businesses on the island.

"In about six days from now I will be one my way to Flori to then go to Rome. The assassins there are trying to eliminate all Templars in Italy and my Master Anker is sending me there to help. So I might not come back, but I will be glad to know that the people who work the fields and such will be in good hands." Rhea said taking the puzzle box and putting it in a traveler's bag. She looked up from her bag with Athena in her face.

"So you're leaving for good to live your life a murderer for people you don't even know?" Athena questioned as Rhea stood up from her chair and took her bag to the coat rack which held her cloak.

"Yes, do you have a problem with that?" Rhea answered seeing that Athena's face was similar when Hemera was angry.

"No but before you leave I will have something to say alright. And also I don't want this large house, I'm fine with my own. So I might use it for parties." Rhea chuckled at her friend's words.

"That's fine, so I will see you in six days?" The day went on, Hemera was woken up and Rhea went on to packing a few things for her trip. She had decided on wearing a regular woman's dress of Italy for her ride in the Italian country side and to have her assassin weapons with her travel pack. The whole plan was to ride from Flori to Monteriggioni to change horses or stay the night before heading further south to Rome. The whole trip would take about a week at least, but traveling by one's self does have it perks.

* * *

In the evening of the day of Rhea's seven day sail to Italy she was saying goodbye to closest of her friends and to her grandparents before walking onto the ramp to the ship.

"Rhea!" Athena yelled over the people who were yelling good lucks and other things. Rhea looked at Athena who finally pushed through the crowd and embraced her friend. They really hadn't talked that much that week for Athena had been upset for the fact that her best friend who was like he younger sister was leaving for good. "When this whole Templar thing is over, send word to us a month before your birthday and we will have a huge party in Venice just for you."

"What? Athena why d-"

"We'll rent a whole plaza just for your celebration of life because you better not die on me crazy _γοργών_." Rhea smiled at her nickname and held her friend tighter before the two whispered goodbyes and "I love you sister" before letting go and Rhea running onto the ship. Rhea and the sailors on the ship waved to their friends on the small island until they were out of the harbor. She was then taken to her personal cabin for the next seven days on the ship, as Rhea was putting her bag on her small cot, the clay sphere that she had taken care of for the past twenty six rolled out of her bag and smashed onto the floor.

"Mother fucker," Rhea hissed as she began to pick up the shards of the broken pottery. "Why does this have to break?" As she picked up the largest piece, she found a strange looking tube with a few holes on one side. I short of looked like part of an instrument or a whistle. Whistle! It came to her, Rhea reached into her pocket and she pulled out the sea whistle that saved her life so many years ago. Rhea sat on the bed and somehow put the two pieces together seeing that the top part had a hole for a notch on the second piece. Once together, the item seemed to glow a bit and have a warm feel to it. Rhea stared at it for a while before putting it back in her bag and then drifting off to sleep.

During the long week at sea, Rhea helped out in the chores of cooking and helping around in other menial chores that needed to be done. And after that Rhea set to work on figuring out the puzzle box, first she found out the combination of the buttons so that she could move the small tiles around to make pictures of different times in history. It wasn't until the second to last day on the ship she had finally got the damned thing opened. A whole group of off duty sailors were gathered around her as the box's top became loose enough for Rhea to open the lid. Anticipation had built up and was lost to the sailors as she pulled out the last piece of the item. Men went back to work as Rhea pulled out the main piece and attached it together.

The piece of Eden actually looked like a Grecian Aulos, a flute invented by Athena. The flute pulsated in her hand a bit before giving off a soft glow. Rhea carefully placed the mouth piece on her lips and began to play a small lullaby, the men stopped to listen to the beautiful music coming forth from the item. When Rhea finished, she heard a loud noise from the port side, the assassin walked over to find a whale had come extremely close to the boat and was swimming alongside. Rhea smiled at the whale as it swam next to the boat, after ten minutes the whale sang a bit before slipping into the dark blue depths of the ocean.

"Didn't you say that when you were younger, that top part of the aulos summoned a whale that saved your life?" One of the younger sailors asked as he also watched the whale descend.

"Yes, but are you suggesting something friend?" Rhea countered with her own question. It started to make sense, but why would it only be whales. The Rhea thought back to the puzzle box, all of the pictures had at least a type of mammal in each picture.

"Maybe this item has the ability to have the user be protected by and control the animals it summon ma'am." He suggested as the unsocial sea cat of this ship rubbed against her legs.

"Yes I think your right." Rhea smiled as she watched the cat run after an unfortunate rat. The day ended in a music night as men danced around telling funny and terrifying stories of the sea. All was good, and Rhea wished that every day to come from now on would be like this. But she knew that all was for not.

Rhea uncomfortably walked on muddy Italian soil through the port town of Flori as she went to the fast travel station for her horse. Rhea was wearing the dress that she had picked out so that she wouldn't be as noticeable, and she had also covered her facial scar with make-up given to her by a courtesan friend back in Athens. Rhea really looked like a normal person in these times, the perfect disguise, even with two sailors following her with her two small trunks. With a few showing of document of identification and paying an extra amount of money, Rhea's two trunks were on their way to Rome while a young stable boy brought forward a beautiful brown horse. Being around horses for the past fourteen years showed Rhea that the horse was extremely hormonal and was probably going to be a handful.

"Miss, I do worry that you won't be able to handle this horse, she really doesn't like other women very much. Maybe this beige on-"

"Thank you for your warning but I was perfectly clear that I wanted a horse with a good amount of endurance. And she'll do fine." Rhea smiled sweetly, but behind it was an extremely annoyed at this man's stereotyping of women not knowing anything. And without anymore arguing she mounted the horse in one swift move and made the angered horse turn towards the road to Florence. "Good bye and please be careful with my belongings." Rhea said as she tied her satchel to the horse's saddle and rode off into the mountain pass with little trouble.

Once in the pass Rhea stopped the horse and dismounted, she still had a hold of the reins so she could face the horse. It angrily pawed at the ground but she moved to its side and loosened the saddle so that Rhea could slide her hand easily between the leather and the animal. The horse slowly stopped acting up and whined softly at Rhea.

"Yeah I know your pregnant, but we'll stop tonight so that you can rest and so that I can get a horse that doesn't need to be out hurting it's child." Rhea said to her horse softly before getting back on and urging her to trot at a nice pace. Eventually Juvia, the horse, wanted to run so Rhea would let her until they needed to move slowly around men patrolling the pass for a strange reason. Rhea had been even stopped three times for documentation, and one of them she had a creep perverted man who kept staring at her until she was out of his line of sight. But soon the two were out of the pass and now passing Florence.

Rhea smiled at all of the old memories of her learning how to run on the rooftops without dying. All of them happy, and it made the woman smile even more to see the improved condition of the city. People were shopping from what Rhea could see from the gates, but one thing she could live without were the minstrels. For when they saw her, she swore that they came at her in packs of at least two of the annoying men. Soon Rhea was rid of the annoying off key singers and cantering off to Monteriggioni at a relaxed speed, and in no time Rhea could see the walls and villa of the town. Juvia, obviously happy, slowed down a bit to go easy on her developing baby and herself. And in a ten minute walk, horse and female assassin were at the stables of the town. A stable boy kindly took the horse to a sheltered stable, for he noticed the horse was pregnant, and Rhea tipped him well before taking her bag and walking into the city.

* * *

The whole place was teeming with a good mixture of people from different professions like the courtesans, thieves, and mercenaries, along with the regular town folk. It wasn't long until trouble had started up and a group of thieves were running amuck in the street Rhea was in, and from the sound of it one of them was able to steal a woman's purse. When the thieves were running to escape, they ran past Rhea, but being the assassin she was, Rhea plucked the purse snatcher by the scruff of his neck, they young boy yelped and tried to scratch at his captor but Rhea kept him at arm's length. Eventually the young girl came up to Rhea and asked if she could get her purse back. Rhea clocked the boy in the head with her free hand so that he would let go, when he did the young lady picked up her stolen item and thanked Rhea.

"Hold on a second please." She slapped the boy upside the head.

"Ow what the fuck are you doing _punttana_?" The thief yelled, as he tried again to get loose.

"Apologize to the young girl." Rhea ordered. The girl and boy looked at her in shock.

"You want me to fucking apologize to this _monello_? No fucking way!" He squealed when Rhea raised her hand higher to smack him with more force. She glared harshly at the kid and he froze from the pure malice the woman was giving him. He then looked at the surprised girl. "S-s-sorry"

"What was that? I couldn't hear you." The young girl replied. The thief only got anger and blurted out his apology, surprising the girl but making Rhea smirk in victory. The young girl accepted the apology, the poor thing had a heart of gold, and gave the boy a good handful of florins. But before she walked off, Rhea asked for directions to the leader of the town. Once getting them Rhea dragged the now yelping thief along with her.

"Hey hey hey, what are you doing? I don't need to see Mario, come on please lady I'm sorry about the name calling it's just you surprised me that's all." The boy pleaded as they walked up the steps to the villa. Rhea noticed the assassin symbol, realizing this was the villa Ezio had written about in one of his letters.

"No, you're not getting out of this whelp. Boys like you need to learn how to respect girls their age, you should know to only steal from the heavily weighed down wealthy people." The kid looked at her in amazement before his face went sour at seeing the mercenaries train in the ring relentlessly. Then all color was lost from his face when he saw Mario Auditore talking to another man who looked oddly familiar to Rhea.

"Miss, please I'll do anything for you to let me go. Do you know what they do to us when we do something wrong, they make us fight those brutes. PLEASE DON'T MAKE ME FOR THE LOVE FOR ALL THAT IS HOLY!" The thirteen year old cried, gaining the attention of anyone near the training circle or at the entrance of the villa where Rhea was headed, looking at the kid as if he was insane.

"Lanz, what on earth are your yelling about?" Mario Auditore asked looking at the desperate kid, then looking at the woman who bought him in. "May I ask what you are doing here _Signora_?" The older man asked. Rhea looked at him and could already tell that he was related to Ezio, for they looked like family and that he fit the description Ezio had given her, only that he had aged.

"I'm sorry, it's just I think it's a bit strange that a thief in a small town like this is stealing from the citizens like the young girl he stole from instead of an obvious visitor like myself. And also can I guess that the punishment that he is sacred of is what they sometimes make undisciplined warriors go through." Rhea explained as she shoved the kid forward.

Mario sighed before getting two burly men to take a hold of Lenz. "Ezio usually goes easy on even when he steals from shops but today he'll just have help out in the mine for a week. Again." Mario sighed as the desperate boy calmed down a bit at his punishment not being beaten up to a pulp. "May I also question why you know of that punishment?"

"Well my third day of assassin training they did that to me." Mario looked at her more closely.

"So you're the assassin that Anker had sent us, I am a bit surprised that you're a woman. But no offense to you Fury, I do hope that you li-" Mario was interrupted by the man who had stayed on the sidelines to watch.

"Rhea, Rhea is that you?" Rhea looked at the man, it took her a while to recognize the same clothing but his friendly voice and face reviled all.

"Leonardo what are you doing here?" Rhea laughed at the artist as he hugged her tightly and that now she was taller than him.

"Never mind me, look at you. You've changed so much, what happened?" Leonardo asked, but the he noticed how confused Mario was. "Oh sorry, Mario this is my good friend Rhea Allocco when I lived back in Venice. It's been fourteen years since I've seen her." Leonardo explained, extremely happy that his old friend was back. Mario grinned at the name of Allocco, he immediately recognized it.

"So your Stephan's daughter?" Rhea nodded, somewhat knowing where this was going. Mario gave Rhea a large bear hug, suffocating the woman a bit before letting her go. "You act a lot like your old man, well from what I've heard from the stories from Ezio and Leonardo."

"Thank you signore, but I am sure you know that I am in a bit of a hurry. So I was wondering if you had a place to stay, like an inn, for the night I would really appreciate." Rhea inquired as she got her breath back. Mario only laughed and patted Rhea on the back.

"You can stay here if you like _piccola_, it won't be any trouble to house you for one night. Besides, I think Leonardo has mush to discuss with you. Now you go enjoy yourself, I have some business to attend to." Mario walked inside the villa leaving an astounded Rhea and happy Leonardo at the entrance. Rhea looked at the artist and began laughing at what had just happened with Leonardo chuckling along with her.

"Come on Rhea, I have a few errands to run, you mind coming along to talk to me about what has happened since you left?" He held out his arm for her, which she took happily and the reminiscing began. On their errand run Rhea told Leonardo everything that had happened, except for the piece of Eden and the goddesses. Leonardo listened intently, obviously intrigued on how his little tiny delivery friend had transformed into an assassination goddess. Then Leonardo took his turn on telling her about all that had happened to him over the long gap. Of course the two friends had sent letters to each other, but Rhea's were vague and they took forever to reach each other and to respond.

"So Rhea tell me, how did this happen?" The artist asked, gesturing to Rhea's height and new figure. Rhea laughed at Leonardo's question as they walked back to the villa for dinner.

"To be honest of my chest and hips, I have no idea why they got big. My grandmother thinks it's the gods' blessing for coming home, and for eating food from home. And my height, my father was tall along with my grandfather, so I get that from them. But thank you for the complements earlier."Rhea answered going quiet and looking around at the town. Leonardo could see what she who she was looking out for.

"Ezio is in Rome right now Rhea, you won't find him here." He sighed knowing that Rhea was probably still extremely angry at him. What happened was that along with writing to Leonardo, Rhea was also writing to Ezio. For the first year Ezio did write back to her, but as the months after that went by the letters dwindled until he just ignored them to focus on his revenge and on "other" things. Rhea had continued to write even after he stopped for three years until she quite writing to him and only to the artist.

"Sorry to make you bring that up, it's just I don't want to see him again right now and also my friends back at home are bugging the living shit out of me." Rhea sighed glad to know she wouldn't have to face him. The mention of Rhea's friends quirked Leonardo's curiosity, he looked at her with a confused face until she answered. "My friend back at home has been bugging me to get married for the last eight years and in those years she has also been bugging me to go "wild" for a night to end my chastity."

"Are you kidding me, your still a virgin?"

"32 years and still counting, Leonardo you know me too well."Rhea answered as they walked up the stairs into the villa. "Besides, I don't think that there any male bordellos for me to go to." Leonardo rolled his eyes, it surely was Rhea.

"If you want someone bugging someone else about marriage, you should Ezio's mother nag him to get married instead of sleeping with his lover, Catarina."

"Oh, a new one. What number does this make?" Rhea joked. Mario greeted them back.

"There you two are, there is still some supper if you want it. But first Rhea, you'll have to stay in Ezio's room for tonight, I'll have one of the maids take you there now if you like." Rhea wanted to grimace but she kept the straight face.

"I like that please, and I don't want any supper. I actually had a late snack in town earlier sorry." Mario just smiled and told her how to get to the room. Rhea thanked him and bade everyone good night before walking to the room.

As soon as Rhea entered the room, the familiar sent that the other assassin had hit her like a tidal wave. And like she expected, it stirred old desires that were meant to stay dormant, but Rhea used all of the will power she had stay calm and actually get ready for bed. When Rhea had finished dressing for bed, she sat at the edge of the bed looking at her symbol of commitment on her right ring finger. The symbol of the order was branded on her ring finger to symbolize her commitment and her status of a master assassin. Tired Rhea flopped onto the bed and crawled under the covers to sleep, letting loose a muffled scream of desperation and anger under a pillow before drifting off.

* * *

It was extremely early in the morning when Rhea came from Ezio's room, dressed in her trousers, poet's shirt, and corset for the ride that morning. Rhea walked into the kitchen to find a girl preparing breakfast, the girl was first startled to see Rhea up so early but she calmed down and helped her by giving her a piece of bread and honey for breakfast. She also gave her a loaf of bread, a bottle of wine, and a piece of salted pork for the trip under the orders of Mario. When Rhea had her things in her two packs she quickly walked out of the villa and to the entrance of the town. People were beginning to set up shop for the day, all ignoring the woman as she passed by and out the gate. When she had gotten there, a man had just pulled up on a tired spotted white horse. Rhea ignored him, but only looked at him when he spoke to the stable boy.

It was Ezio, and he was back from the mission from Rome. Rhea could tell from his appearance that Ezio, like her, had changed. He seemed humbler from his aura, and he was a little bit taller and cut. But what were the most changed were the new assassin garb and the beard that Ezio had let grown in. In Rhea's opinion, he looked good with the beard, but seeing that he was beginning to notice her, she got her horse from the stable boy, tipped him and rode off to Rome.

It had taken exactly one week and three days on the road to get to Rome with some times riding nonstop. But when she got to the city, she wasted no time getting to her new home. As her master told her, she could easily see the coliseum from her home. She checked to see that her trunks had made it to the finished home before crashing on to the bed to sleep, for the next time she would put on the assassin garb was when the Templars would make their move again.

**Translations:**

**Θεία : Aunt**

**Γοργών: Gorgon**

**Punttana: Whore**

**Monello: brat**

**My thanks to:**

**CreativeChica39: AWWWWW, I'll miss you too. That makes me very happy to hear that. But do not worry, November is slowly approaching so once I get the game and start to play it chapters will begin to return *BEAR HUG BACK***

**XevilxbunnyX: I really don't believe those rules exist either but hey I'll be going to hell for writing a story that I love :).And to go on about your mentioning of my grammar and stoof. Personally I really suck at the sentence structure but I have been told I am getting better, but a buddy of mine edits these chapters for me since she is a whole lot better at catching these things than I can. Thank you for reading I hoped you liked this new chapter.**

**SilverFoxQueen: I figured out how to post a new chapter so yay! :D But hey now I get to rest and stuff, but from your last review, I thought the way Ezio had to shut up Rhea was really funny too. See you the next time I update.**


	6. Talon's Barred

**Author's note: I IS BACK BISNATCHES D! Man it feels great to be back on the writing world, and after utilizing the break to write a wonderful chapter; man it feels really good. Lot of great things happening to me in the future (PS3 and related things) but mostly that I have a new year's resolution for this story. As an alert, I'm doing a rewrite of chapters 1-3 cause they need work. Before the break I went on a really cool creative writing trip in which I think all of my writing potential blossomed out, and now I really want to do this. So be prepared to see some chapters turn into two and more little things to happen; and if you need to reread the whole story again when chapter 6 comes out. So here it is chapter 5. I do not own any of the Ubisoft character, but I do own Rhea and Hyperion. **

…**..wait….I want to apologize to someone. If you remember, I had this big whole rant about a review I had gotten. And I want to take some stuff back, it was wrong of me to say that Popdude125 had no right to say the things he said in his first review since he has no writing. I do know there are other sites (I post this story on another site as well), and I am really sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me, I was just pissed and being very bullheaded when defending my writing. There are some things that still kinda tick me off, the unwritten rules things, but hey forgive and forget man. We all have to do that some time in life. Truce? **

"Spare some coin please! It's for my family."

"No she's lying; I need money for a doctor and food. I'm in more need than them."

"They all lie; just give me the coin in your purse. You seem to have plenty Ma'am!" Three women in ratty clothing surrounded the noble-looking woman, pestering her for the money that jingled in her wrist purse. They could not see the anger that seeped into the woman's blue eyes of ice and sky, well until she glared at each one with hell fire intensity. The begging women backed off, seeing that this woman did not want to hear their useless prattle and the large scar on her face helped with the look. As they backed away, Rhea dug into her coin purse and threw a handful at the women's feet; she ignored their screams of conflict as she continued to her home from the market place.

The evening dragged on as the sun began to set and the clouds filled the purple bruised sky. People rushed to their homes, hoping to not fall victim to a team of bandits or anger a guard, but Rhea wasn't one of these people. She was the one who took her time passing by the coliseum before walking to her decent sized house. Thankfully, the brotherhood back in Athens had provided everything she needed to stay in Roma, a good house and a fake identity to go off of and snake her way into the upper society for information. Her orders came by bird, mostly a large barn owl, and they had certain increments in which was to go unnoticed by the Italian brotherhood until Rhea decided when it was a good time to revile her position to the native assassins. No Borgia captains to take down for her, all were corrupt nobles or cardinals trying to climb up the Templar chain to satisfy their hunger for power and wealth. It was Rhea's duty to nip the bud of the newly growing problem before uprooting the problem all together. But tonight there was no mission, not anything except a nice dinner and a full night of sleep in a week.

Stepping into her home, Rhea was greeted by Hyperion, her English Mastiff. The dog was the size of a small donkey and ate like a horse, but was still under the age of two. Rhea chuckled as he bounded into the hallway, only to trip over his large paws and stumble to his master's feet. Sighing at his idiocy, Rhea nudged the dog with her foot and walked straight to the kitchen. Hyperion followed Rhea into the kitchen and sat on his haunches by Rhea. First he watched as she unloaded the food she had bought out of her basket, then he began to drool before starting his puppyish whining. The assassin looked down at the dog to see the puddle forming and growing on the tile.

"Here you go you big baby." Rhea threw the dog a small slab of meat into his bowl, Hyperion dashed over to his food bowl and began to scarf the treat down. Rhea smirked as she finished unloading the basket and placing the food away before the puppy could get any more ideas. "To believe I picked you off the streets four months ago when you were so tiny, now here you are; the size of a large foul." Rhea mused as she took a place at her table with a piece of bread and a slice of ham on top, the typical dinner Rhea would enjoy. After Hyperion finished his treat, he stood in front of his master again and began to whine again. Rhea looked down at the dog in disbelief. "What? I already gave you your food for the whole day earlier and that treat, no more for you."

The dog began to whine some more as the bread and ham depleted more and more as she ate. Finally at the last bite, Rhea gave in and threw it into the large gaping mouth of her pet. The sound of the dog's drooping lips covered in slobber made a loud suction noise as he gobbled up the small piece of bread. The assassin could help but to laugh at the silliness the dog kept displaying everyday as she scratched at his head lovingly, the mastiff leaned into the hand and wagged his tail in joy. The two enjoyed a few minutes of play before Rhea had to wash her hands of drool and prepare for the next night. Rhea walked to her small study and opened a secret compartment under the tile under her desk. Lifting up the chest in the compartment, Rhea unlatched the lock and lifted the lid open to reveal assortments of clothing and weaponry. After sifting through pieces, Rhea picked out a wine red and purple dress in the Grecian style with a deep V-neck and covered back. Hyperion huffed as he lay down to watch Rhea carefully pick her wardrobe for the next mission, another seduction mission. Along with the dress, an assortment of jewelry and concealed weapons were chosen and laid out on the desk for the next night.

Standing away from her desk, Rhea whistled to her pet and began to climb the stair to the only room upstairs with Hyperion sleepily following her. After the dog waddled into the small bedroom, Rhea locked that door and went behind a tall screen to slip out of her dress. Stripping of her underclothes, the assassin pulled the night gown onto her body before settling into bed, the moonlight coming through the glass and illuminating the room. Whistling again, Rhea scooted over as the mastiff joined her on the bed; his massive head in the area of her lap. Snickering at her dog, Rhea dozed off to a dream land of no worries as her guard dog snored on top of her.

* * *

"Ezio, this is very important. Stop a second to answer the damned question." Bartemello barked as Ezio walked away from the mercenary leader. The master assassin had a rough day, which included chasing down three men who knew his secrets and taking down two Borgia towers in the western part of Roma. Now with Bartemello breathing down his neck, things couldn't get any worse. "All I am asking is, have you heard of the creature the people call the Fury?" Ezio stopped in his tracks slowly and turned to face the mercenary master.

"Why do you speak of a mythical creature as if this is real? There is no such thing exists that is a creature from hell." Ezio retorted as he turned back around to see La Volpe standing at the door. "La Volpe, what are doing here?"

The fox looked at the master assassin with a serious expression. "The same reason Bartemello is trying to stop you. It is not exactly the actually creature itself, but a person who calls themselves a Fury. It's another assassin from an order in eastern Europe." The thief master stated as he walked into the room, his brown hooded cape flowing behind slightly by the man-made wind. His deep brown eyes bordering the line of purple, filled with information that would be necessary for this upcoming situation.

"So we have another assassin from another country, is he causing so much ruckus that he might compromise the creed?"

"That's not the fact. From my spies we have learned that this certain assassin is wiping out any small templar agents that, if given the chance, would become thorns in our sides if they were given a higher position in the Templar. In conclusion, this assassin is taking care of the small insects for us so we can focus on Cesare and Rodrigo. The thing that bothers me is that we did not ask for assistance from any other brotherhood, and this Fury shows up when we are in the middle of our war." La Volpe explained as he stopped by the desk in the middle of the room. "From my sources, the areas that we are most likely find this assassin is by the coliseum. My men have been able to track him till then before he disappears from their sights."

"So tomorrow, let us keep an eye out for this Fury. If we must, take him down to get some answers." Ezio ordered. He turned to finally leave for his hideout and rest up for the night, he would need it to catch this Fury. As he left, Bartemello's wife stepped into the room; she had a questioning look on her face.

"What is it my darling?" The mercenary leader asked.

"Isn't the Fury a female creature, why would a man call himself that which is obviously female?" She asked, and her husband thought about it for a second before shrugging if it was nothing to think about. He and his wife retired to their room, leaving La Volpe to escort himself out for the short visit. He pondered for a moment, then the answer came to him. The fox grinned to himself before riding off to his own hide out, this was going to be fun.

* * *

Rhea was woken by her dog growling at the foot of her bed, Hyperion's hair was standing on edge as he slinked forward to the door and down the hall. Grabbing a small dagger that she kept under her pillow, Rhea quietly slipped out of her bed and walked after her dog. The wood floor barely squeaked as she and the 150 pound dog slowly moved down the hall. Rhea patted the dog's head to quite him down and to move in front of the protective dog. The closer they got to the study, the voices became clearer. Men slightly drunk, probably around Rhea's height, maybe even shorter, and stifling through her things like rats.

"Lookie here at these drawers; seems like the man of the house has some pretty lady here." One of the bandits chuckled as they examined everything in the study. More dirty jokes went on as Rhea finally reached the door and used the dagger as a mirror to see how many men were in her study. One…two…three…four…five…about seven men all together: all experienced in their trade. Rhea devised a plan as she reached for the knob and positioned her dagger in her hand to parry.

Counting to herself to ease her jittery adrenaline drunk nerves, Rhea sucked in a good amount of air before whipping around and slamming the door open and taking a stance at the door. The men jumped at the noise and were surprised to see a disheveled black haired woman holding a six inch dagger and a large dog behind her growling. It took few seconds before the men began laughing at the sight of Rhea in her night attire, right then and there she didn't care at all what she looked like; all she wanted them to do was to drop her items and leave her house.

"Now Piccola, why don't you wait in your bedroom for one of us to come and entertain you while we relieve your house of these unnecessary items? And how about calming that dog down as well, how about it piccola?" The man holding her dress for tonight asked as if he were talking to a desperate woman. Rhea glared at the man as he set down her dress and casually walked in her direction, ignoring Hyperion's deep growls as he advanced. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that little toothpick is for show. And I don't want your pretty hands getting marred up like your face."

The other men chuckled as their boss was a good two feet in front of the assassin, not knowing the lethality that Rhea was ready to unleash if he came too close. Using her foot, Rhea nudged the dog to leave the room; unwillingly the dog complied and sat by the door ready to strike. The bandit chuckled at Rhea's actions as he saw her eyes filled with ice fire; she sure was a catch even with the scar that ran down her face and onto her chest. Seeing the dog was a good was away, the bandit reached for her arm. "On second thought, I think you'll be coming with us." He commanded as his followers cheered at his command.

As he reached for her arm, Rhea reacted with lightning speed; first she took a hold of his dominant arm and swung herself around so that their backs were touching. To slow to register what was going on, the bandit yelled profanities and orders to his underlings. Seeing their boss detained, the others dropped what they had stolen and rushed at the woman with their own weapons.

One by one, Rhea took each down with one hand and both feet while twisting the arm of the man behind her. Soon it was just her and the bandit she held captive, the others were on the floor moaning in pain as Rhea had hit them in either the groin, the Adam's apple or both. Seeing that it was a good time, she let the man behind her go as they both whipped around to face off; spitting on to the ground, the boss bandit lunged for her in furry. A bad move.

Rhea moved out of the way at the right moment and caught him by the scruff of his neck. Yelping out, the man reached back to grab her, only succeeding in gain access to her long black hair; in his desperation he yanked on her locks making her grunt in slight pain. Shifting her dagger around in her hand, Rhea held the blade up to the man's throat hard enough that a little blood trickled out.

"Now let me tell you something," Rhea spoke as she bought him to her eye level. "You are going to leave my house, actually leave the entire district while you're at it." The man nodded when Rhea pressed the cool blade to his heated skin; when saw that he was sincere, the assassin released him and watched calmly as he roused his companions and prepared to leave. Hyperion trotted over to his master to watch as the drunken men hurried to leave the house of the female devil. Her pet nudged her leg with affection and barked when one of the men would get too close to the pair by the dog's standards. Then Rhea had a thought come to her. "Wait…" the men stopped in their tracks at the sound of the woman's voice. "Everything you have on you, including your weapons, leave it here."

The men looked at her as if she had grown a new head, but did as she ordered when the large dog by her side began growling with murderous intent. Rhea nearly laughed out loud as the men emptied their pockets: coins, women's purses, small daggers and anything else pretty random the men had on them. Seeing that they were done, Rhea nodded to the open window they had climbed through.

Once they were gone, Rhea picked up the mess they had caused and shook the dust from her dress. The burgundy cloth shimmering in the sunlight; Rhea couldn't help but sigh at the piece of cloth. It would most likely not be worn again be her and would probably get blood stains. The assassin placed the extravagant gown on her desk before turning back to her dog. "I am pretty sure I know what you're thinking. 'Master Rhea needs to feed her dog before he starts drooling.'" The dog barked in agreement, Rhea laughed as the pup ran off into the hall towards the kitchen. "And some rest." Rhea followed the excited dog to the kitchen. In all of the excitement, Rhea took no heed to look out her window to see the hooded man in the tree that had watched the whole scene go down.

* * *

The morning had turned into late afternoon and the heads of the brotherhood were on the roof of the assassin hideout. Ezio released the pigeon he had in hands as he turned towards his companions. They had all gathered here to discuss more plans against the Borgia and the assassin from the east. All but Ezio's immediate family were there, and his own assassins were all on their own missions across Europe.

"So the plan to take down the Borgia is nearly in full swing, all we need to really worry about the thing the people call the Fury." Ezio stated as he walked towards them.

"This whole assassin thing sounds all too suspicious. This person could be a Borgia spy trying to make us give them information; this could be a trap Ezio." Machiavelli spoke, looking to the other two men for their input.

"Personally I see no problem with this person, and secondly; why would the Borgia kill their most promising men as if they were flies. I see this new person as a great ally to us all." La Volpe said as he stood up from the wall he was just leaning on. "Ezio think about the situation, we need people to help us take down our enemies, and someone as well trained as an assassin could spell out good fortune for us. And it means that we have another brotherhood willing to send us men."

Ezio contemplated the idea. "Very well, we will see this person as an ally for time being, but if anything goes wrong and it's this 'Fury's' fault, he will be killed on the spot. I will not jeopardize the brotherhood for the sake of one man." Both the thief master and Machiavelli nodded in compliance. "Good, now La Volpe, send your men around the city to seek out this man, I want to talk to this Fury as soon as possi-"

"That won't be necessary signore Auditore, for I have already found you." A voice came from above them, the men whipped around till they spotted a figure lying on the roof above the door to the inside of the building. With weapons half drawn the assassin above them chuckled to herself and she pulled out an object from her own assassin robes. "Now now, there's no need to get all touchy. We are all kin here in a sense, so how about we all just relax and put all of those weapons away and talk like civilized people." All except La Volpe looked strangely at the person lying on her side and peeling an orange casually.

"You're a woman?" Bartemello barked in surprise, sheathing his sword suspecting that she was no threat.

"Really? I mean I lived in this body all my life, I've could of sworn that I had no penis what so ever." She sarcastically answered as she opened up the juice filled fruit and ate one piece. "Yes I am a woman you _stronzo, _what do you expect from a person named after a female demon?" The mercenary master snorted at the woman's disrespect before Machiavelli joined into the awkward conversation.

"So Fury, what is your purpose here in Roma, and can we trust you for further missions in the future?" He asked. Rhea childishly put her right index finger on her chin and sat up get a good look of the sky; she even made a young girls "hmmm" noise to add to the annoyance of the men before her. Hearing a small growl come from the man clad in white, Rhea looked down at the masters below as she pushed her butt of the roof and landed as gracefully as a cat on to the landing. Rhea finished the orange and looked at Machiavelli.

"Sir you can trust me, I even have a notice from my masters up in Greece explaining why I am here. But my question is if I can trust you men with my life seeing as if you were just talking about killing me if anything went wrong on my part. And even so I can prove that I am one of the brotherhood." Rhea remarked as she worked on removing her left hidden blade; taking her olive tanned hand, she held it out for the men to see the brand of the order on her ring finger. Ezio took a hold of her smooth hand to get a better look, sure enough it was there, Ezio rubbed her hand before letting go. It was soft and sleek except for the few scars that marred at the lower back and wrist.

"How long were you here? And how did you find us?" Ezio finally asked, seeing that he didn't like that this person was eavesdropping on their conversation earlier.

"In a total speculation, about…" Rhea paused to count in her head and use her fingers to estimate the minutes. "…about, let's say a good two hours. And for the latter question, I have been in the city longer than you so I tracked the other assassin activity to this very building. And don't mind me being me up there, the view was nice and I was able to have my dinner in peace without Hyperion begging for my share." Rhea rambled. Really all she wanted was too see how these Italians would react to a Greek, and a woman assassin. "Oh and here is the notice from my masters." Rhea pulled a sealed envelope from her shirt and handed it to the perplexed man in front of her.

"So how long have you been in the city _Madonna_?" La Volpe asked, slightly amused by this woman's quirkiness. She had this energy that seemed to brighten any person's day, but that might change if she were to actually get serious.

"About a good four months, at least right before the new year. And god, those fireworks were a sight to see." She reminisced as Ezio and Machiavelli read over the letter written by Sofronio, and it was taking them a while for his hand writing wasn't all that great and the man could barley even speak modern Greek, no less Italian. He was a man of the old ways but had an open mind.

"Fury, should we call you something else? Perhaps your true name, it feels as if you are keeping something important from us eh woman?" Bartemello questioned as he approached the woman who could nearly look him dead in the eye. Rhea chuckled at his attitude towards her.

"You see signore, I like to keep my true name a secret until I have your full trust and you have mine. Besides I like making a few tortuous mind games to pass the time, it makes my life fun to drive away all the miserable things of being an assassin." Rhea answered, walking to the bird post and leaning against it.

As they were discussing things to themselves, Ezio had been observing the Fury. She wore plain robes: a sleeveless black jacket with the customary hood, a white poet's shirt, a burgundy and gold corset, brown Arabian style pants, old leather grieves, and the assassin insignia attached to a long red sash tied tightly against the corset. For her weapons, she had the hidden blades on each arm, a sword, throwing knives, and what seemed to be two coils of leather on each hip. Not heavily armed, but armed enough to cause great damage. He examined her further as she leaned against the wooden post; her olive tan skin shone in the sun with a warm glow where it showed, ice blue eyes peered from the shadow the hood created in the late afternoon sun, and her figure wasn't one to joke about. She was built, so she wasn't as thin as any other woman, for the muscle under her skin showed as she rolled up her sleeves to mess with the mechanism on her arm.

Not a bad woman, Ezio thought to himself, a bit weird and not the type of woman he would typically go after; but her face, her face and her eyes bugged him as if a ghost of the past was prodding his head to remember. But he dismissed it when she looked up at him and smirked.

"Really signore, you see one exotic woman and you're already drooling over this goddess of the hunt." Rhea jeered at the older man, Ezio snapped out of his trance and glared at the younger woman's joke. La Volpe snickered to himself at the comment and reached for the notice so he could see the information given to them by the assassin master of Greece.

"Enough of this childish acts, Madonna Fury, it seems you are telling the truth for now. But right now we need to build a trust between us before you are truly accepted into this part of the order." Machiavelli interjected before Ezio could counteract Rhea's joke. Rhea's eye shone from easy to seriousness as she looked the man dead in the eye. She nodded, and stood back up.

"Very well, just as long you don't put me through ridiculously easy tests I will be fine with it. Now if you gentlemen will excuse me I actually have a very important mission tonight, I would hate to be late. But if you must talk to me more, find me in the eastern pasture by the coliseum at one in the morning, I will show you were I live so that you can find me at anytime." Rhea agreed, she walked to the edge of the roof, judging the gap to the other roof across. "Ciao." She playful sent a kiss to Ezio and snickered at his recoil as she leaped across the gap.

The men watched as she sped across the roof tops at cheetah speed and disappear into the setting sun. Machiavelli scoffed slightly as they turned to go back inside the hideout below them. "A strange one she is, defiantly." He commented.

"At least we will have a bit more liveliness to our purpose; those Greeks sure have an interesting group of people." La Volpe added. "I will go and send a few of my men to follow her and see what this woman can do. Also I am going to meet her at the coliseum, any information I should ask for?"

"In all try to find out as much information about her as possible," Ezio ordered. "Actually I wish to get to know this woman more, I will go with you." The fox nodded and both men ran to the stables and rode off to the Inn that was the thief guild.

* * *

Rhea had found an abandoned house to stay in, it was close to the target's destination tonight and it acted as a nice place to take a quick nap. When the sun was well under the horizon and the moon was in the sky, Rhea lit a few candles she had brought in her sea pack she had brought to the building before seeking out the other assassins. Deciding that there was sufficient light in the room, the assassin took out a small mirror, a make-up kit, her jewelry, and finally the dress with a few more "accessories" to go along with the night. Stripping of her clothing, Rhea slipped into the burgundy dress and gold slippers, and thus began the process to transform herself.

First opening the make-up set she was given to by the courtesan master of Greece, Rhea began painting over her marred up skin; the scars disappearing under a good layer of thick make-up making her skin seem smooth and flawless. Next she added the right amount of eye make-up to make her eyes shine with a lovely gleam, and red to her lips to make them seem plump and kissable. Rhea snorted at the reflection before her, it was a fake person, a person not marred with scars; the assassin snapped out of her train of thought and continued with the transformation. Rhea released her long locks form their bun and brushed out all of the kinks before placing the head band in to keep the black hair from her face.

With the last touches of jewelry placed in the right places, Rhea packed up her items and hid the sack in a hole in one of the pillars. Seeing that everything was good to go, Rhea extinguished the candles and exited the building through the back and grabbed a cloak that the family had left behind.

That night was a quiet one that night, barley any people were out and the Borgia guards were doing their regular rounds. Rhea walked down the alley ways towards her destination, noticing that there were a few people following her by rooftops. Inconspicuously looking up Rhea caught sight of three men, and one white clad assassin; she smirked to herself before continuing on to the building. Music poured out of every crevice and window as Rhea approached the house - before she had come within range of the guards, Rhea had slipped on a feather black and red mask – and the light inside flickered like the candles that gave them that power. Not even looking the men at the door, Rhea held up and invitation she had swiped for them to examine. They finished, not without looking at her for some time, and let her inside the building. A servant took her cloak and offered her a glass of wine, in which she denied and continued to look for the new appointed captain of the district. There he sat with two courtesans from Claudia's employ on each side, he seemed to be pretty drunk, but sober enough to tell something was up. She smiled before advancing forward.

* * *

Emilio had been enjoying his promotion party, his family and friends had come over to his house to enjoy a night of wine, dancing, great food, (and for the men) women. As of that moment, Emilio had two women tending to his every need; they feed him wonderfully roasted pork, and gave him all of the wine he wanted while his curious hand traveled up and down and even into their tiny quivering bodies. He could tell one thing though, they were being wary for he had tendencies to get quite violent when drunk. Bah, he didn't care one bit; he had all he could ever ask for that night and he didn't think anything could get any better.

"Ah it seems my little sisters have been taking good care of you Capitan? But tell me are they living up to your expectations?" A husky voice asked in front of the man's table. Emilio took his time having his eyes meet that of the speaker; and he couldn't believe what he was seeing. The dress the woman wore was long and covered her legs, but compensated by showing off a toned torso and showed a lot of her breast without them being out for the public to see. Her face was heart shaped and her eye pierced out from the thin layer of black lace that shielded them from the outside world. The woman smiled down at him, those red lips parting back slowly to show her interest in the man before her. "May I join you?"

Emilio couldn't help but gauk at the woman in front of him, he quickly nodded dumbly and the woman shooed away her younger sisters. The other courtesans gave a little huff as their man was stolen from them, but gave into a fit of giggles when the older woman shot them a look to make good use of themselves. Emilio gave a short chuckle at the other girls and placed his arm around the new woman's hips.

"It seems that you can be a bit of tyrant Madonna. Now why act that way when there is plenty of me to go around, hmm?" The slightly drunken Capitan joked as he took another bite of pork. Rhea smirked at is words outside, but in reality was heaving in the inside at this man; by the gods he disgusted her to the very core. And she was supposed to be nice to him.

"In my opinion signore, a man should enjoy one woman at a time if he must have multiple. Plus I was asked specially by a friend to come here and show you a good time. Now would you rather have a good time with the girls, or actually have a fanatical time with me, Capitan" Rhea whispered the last part in the man's ear. She even felt him jump slightly when she had taken his hand and placed it on her upper thigh. With her face so close to his; she could smell the alcohol that laced his breath as he moved closer to kiss her.

"Sister," one of the courtesans from before interrupted. Rhea pulled away to face her, Emilio cursed at the timing the girl had. "You have been requested to be seen by someone, would please go and see them?"

"I wouldn't mind at all, now please tell them that I will be there in a moment." Rhea smiled and turned to the man with his hand angrily gripping Rhea's hip. "Please excuse her for her timing Capitan, besides you can see my talents for later tonight." She purred as she got up and left with the other woman. After walking a good ways away, Rhea began talking to the courtesan. "Make sure everything goes as according to plan, we need this to go as smoothly as possible."

"Yes Madame, but when are you going to meet up with our new master?"

"Soon, now go and don't make yourself seem suspicious." Rhea ushered the girl away and walked to where her requestor was. After pushing through a few clumps of people and around drunkards, Rhea reached the window in which the girl had told her to be at; but no one was there. Well anyone sober, but it irked her that she had been taken away from Emilio. She liked seeing him go under her spell, and there was one thing Rhea liked about these abilities that she was taught: just about any man she chose could come under her spell and that was empowering. It truly made her feel like a powerful woman, something being an assassin didn't do.

"It seems you weren't lying about the ridiculous clothing that you have to wear," A familiar voice broke her train of thought. Rhea turned to see no other than Leonardo Da Vinci before her. Rhea laughed a bit before hugging him closely, she needed this break before finishing the task ahead.

"What are you doing here Leonardo?" Rhea asked, stepping away to get a better look at him. Leonardo defiantly looked older in his eyes; worn out from stress and fear, plus his beard had grown in as well.

"Well, to tell the truth and escape a long string of stories, I was forced to come here. Rhea I am being forced by the Borgia to build war machines." Leonardo spoke softly as he pushed her gently to sit on the window sill and to shield their words with his back. "Rhea I am not surprised to see you here at all, but it is dangerous. Cesare Borgia, if my information is correct, is here as well; and I am worried he might find you out. I already claimed that I invited you here for the man of the hour to keep suspicion down. Then again, you must have gotten an invitation to get in here without walking through the back."

"Never mind me Leo – what about these war machines? Please tell me someone in the order is going to take care of them?" Rhea interjected. Leonardo sighed heavily at Rhea's reaction to the war machines.

"Yes yes, Ezio is taking care of them as we speak. What he is doing is destroying the plans and then destroying the actual machine itself. Rhea you don't have worry about it, all I am truly worried about is you. I know that you were planning to exact your revenge on Alejandro, but he's not wanted by the Borgia here. From what I heard from my times in the Vatican, Rodrigo and Cesare aren't even truly the Templar masters, only masters of Italia. Alejandro is actually a higher up for the Templar movement and won't come to Italia unless Rodrigo and Cesare are gone." Rhea sat in silence to take everything in; she had to help Ezio kill the pope and his cardinal general to get to this man. All moves on the chess board before her, she had to help the "king" to get to the other. Fine she could play this game.

"Thank you for the information Leonardo," Rhea took a glass of wine from a party sever to keep the illusion up that she was a guest. "It seems I might have to go to Spain…." She paused as she sipped the wine; it was Spanish from the smell, the alcohol slipping into her blood stream as she thought some more. "Leo my good friend, I have an alibi giving me the image of a woman with good standards in society. I will visit you when I can to get 'paintings' and more information. I will send a message by owl before my arrival; and please try to get more information on the bastard. Anything you can find: slave auctions, exchanges or any slave trade activity in Italy. But until then my friend." Rhea gave Leonardo a farewell kiss on his cheek before walking away and back her target. Let the game begin.

Emilio was gone from his spot when Rhea had gotten back; probably detained by something else. The assassin huffed in annoyance, she specifically told those girls earlier today that this needed to go smoothly. Now the God damned mission had turned into a goose chase and that was not necessary. Growling lightly, Rhea took the time to go and flaunt off with the others girls brought to the party. She needed to get to the other parts of this house to find Emilio, assassinate him and leave. But this was ridiculous, Rhea was getting jittery and it was beginning to show. Finally after a while, a servant asked for Rhea's attendance with Emilio in Private.

* * *

As the servant was taking Rhea back, she felt eyes boring in the back of her skull. Taking one look back, she saw a man with shoulder length black hair wearing a large chest plate looking at her with scheming brown eyes. Rhea scoffed haughtily and whipped her head forward with her nose in the air; similar to what Amelia would do to upper class Italian boys when they were younger. A low chuckle was heard as Rhea disappeared down the hallway and up a stair well. The assassin silently memorized the path to the room: three rights, one left, two sets of stairs and down one door on the left. The servant left Rhea at the door and speed down the hall way and back to the party.

Rhea knocked on the door, and "enter" was heard and she stepped into the room. It was his bedroom, with a large bed in the middle of the room and a large set of drawers on the far wall. A fireplace was even in the room. Emilio sat in a chair by the fire place, his eyes looking at the flames intently, seeming not to notice the woman presence until she cough lightly. Emilio slowly looked at the woman before him; again he examined her body before looking at her mask covered face. Sighing, he got up at his own pace and looked at Rhea; she was a good few inches taller than him and defiantly sober.

"Madonna, are you ready to show me a good time?" He slurred, grabbing a random piece of clothing and stumbling towards her. Rhea scrunched her nose at him and side stepped him a bit; Emilio growled at this movement and lunged at her when he thought she was in range. Using her honed skill, Rhea side stepped him again but was caught on the cheek with his fist. Rhea grunted at the slight pain and caught both hands before Emilio could cause anymore damage. She and the drunkard were face to face again; only the man this time had a wild need for sex in his eyes. Alcohol seeped from every pore and wreaked the air around them, using her strength Rhea pushed her target to the bed and looked him in the eye.

"You need to lie down Signore, how about you let me take care of everything."Rhea said as she shoved him onto the bed. Perplexed about his sudden movement, Emilio tried to sit up until Rhea pushed him down again and straddled his waist. The man couldn't help but chuckle about the woman's actions as she rubbed his shoulders and passed her hands down his chest plate. He had forgotten to take it off before the party and now his lady friend was taking care of it for him.

Rhea quickly made work of the leather straps the held it together and pushed it away from the man's body. She ran her hands down his chest again this time unbuttoning the shirt to feel the flesh with a ghost's touch. The man shivered at the cool air that caressed his sweating flesh, and the woman's touches were only adding to the man's growing erection that Rhea felt at her back. It was working, and Rhea kept on with her plan.

She began to give butterfly kisses up his chest and to his neck, and the man was losing it more and more with groans of drunken need. Rhea sat up and looked down at the man who grinned up at her; she "grinned" back and reached behind her head to release the strings that held the mask to her face. In the process she grabbed onto a small stiletto disguised as a hair pin; and her hair fell like long swirling waterfalls around her shoulders. Rhea took her time again, but this time Emilio didn't want to wait any longer; his man hood was painfully throbbing to be sheathed and with his own abilities flipped the two over so that he was on top. Rhea wasn't quite prepared for this or the next thing Emilio did.

The drunken man moved down Rhea's body a bit and thrusted his clothed need into Rhea's thankfully clothed core. The female assassin's eyes widened in surprised at the most sexual contact she had truly ever gotten; Emilio took that as a good sign in his part and moved his left hand to grab her wrists and pin her down and used his right to grope her breasts. Rhea grunted at how rough the man above her was; she was in trouble and had to work fast to avoid being another victim of this man's known drunken acts.

Rhea struggled to get her hand without the stiletto free as she tried nudging the man with her knee. The man was drunk, but it seemed the alcohol that coursed through his blood stream made him stronger than usual. In his lust filled actions, Emilio leaned down to the crook of Rhea's neck and latched onto it; skipping the kissing and went straight on into digging his teeth into her flesh. This time, Rhea gasped out in pain but also managed to get her left hand free. Quickly, Rhea passed the knife to her free hand and went to caress his back. Running her hand up and down the back of the rib cage, Rhea found the gap that would lead to a lung; seeing an opportunity, the assassin took action and plunged the knife hilt deep into the man. The Captain recoiled from Rhea's body and howled in pain.

"Bitch! What the hell did you do to me!" He roared, grabbing her throat. Stupidly, he didn't remove the hand attached to her breast but her now free right hand. "Are you trying to kill me? Who the hell sent you, _perra_?"

"No one, but myself." Rhea growled. She reached into her hair again and pulled out another stiletto; and with a fluid motion, sliced his throat open. Emilio gasped like a fish, grabbing at his neck to stop the blood and to stop his oncoming death. All was naught when blood sprayed onto Rhea as his life ended. At this point, someone would usually help her dump the body somewhere, but that was when it was only Rhea and the target in a building alone. This time she would need to act her way out of this. Rhea let the body fall onto her before moving off the bed and disheveled her hair a bit more. She wrinkled her dress some more and covered her bruising breasts before letting out a bone chilling scream.

"ASSASSINIO! SOME ONE PLEASE HELP ME!" Rhea screamed as she threw open the door and ran down the hall back to the party. The assassin in disguise kept on screaming as she got closer to the party, she even threw herself at the wall when the party salon came into view to add affect. Women screamed at her bloodied form as she fell to the ground to make it look like she tripped. Sobbing Rhea curled into her body and began screaming words of an assassin, and the death of Emilio. The guards that were there rushed up to their commander's room at the word assassin, leaving the people to panic with no control. Women were yelling for their loved ones to take them home before they were harmed, but the men were scared to go outside for the fear of being caught by the angel of death still lingered in their minds. As the commotion continued, Rhea tucked her bloodied stiletto into her dress brought on more fake tears as a man walked up to her and boomed for the room to become silent.

"People, calm down. This assassin would not stay behind kill us all, now go home and let the guard of the Vatican take care of this." The man took a hold of Rhea arm and pulled her up to her feet. She looked at the man who had her arm, he was Spaniard by his features and Rhea recognized him from the man before she was taken to Emilio's room. "As for you," He whispered, "Come with me."

He pulled Rhea with him outside and down the street a good way aways. After good while, some more Borgia men followed the two until they stopped at a plaza where some of the courtesans were stay to wait for her. When the other girls saw Rhea, they rushed to her and took her away from the man.

"Next time," The man spoke, "don't find yourself in harm's way Madonna. A pretty face like yours shouldn't be marred." The man touched her bloodied face before being followed by his guards.

"That was Cesare Borgia Madonna, be careful as you continue with your missions. His is known to be cruel to his victims. And please remember to meet with our mistress." The girls slipped away into the alley ways back to their home, and Rhea slinked back to the abandoned house with her items were stored.

* * *

After dapping some of the blood off of her body, Rhea made the trek home with her pack on her shoulder and still wearing the dress. And as she said, Rhea waited in the eastern pasture by the coliseum for anyone who wanted more information. Minutes ticked by as Rhea watch the clouds above cover the moon and uncover it in their eternal movement around the night sky.

"Now don't you look lovely in this light with all of this blood?" A voice mused. Rhea turned to see La Volpe trailed by Ezio himself, and the latter man had a big scowl on his face. Rhea ignored that look and kept eye contact with the thief lord.

"Thank you, but really I wasn't hoping for all of this gore on my body sadly. I must've been a walking nightmare on the way home." The assassin laughed as she whipped blood from her arms.

"Or a walking whore." Rhea turned to face Ezio, a look of shock written on her face. Shock went to utter rage as her eyes went to the ice fire.

"What?" She spat. Ezio looked down on her, he was only a good half a head taller than her but it was all that he could do to glower at her.

"You heard me _Punta_, we saw what had done to assassinate that Capitan. For a second I thought the Greeks were actually helping us with sending a well trained assassin, instead they dump a whore from their ranks. Tell me, who did you have to seduce to come here?" Ezio questioned, bending over to look the enraged woman in the eye. No words were exchanged as the two glared at each other.

"Come on Ezio this isn't the ti-"Rhea's hand cracked over Ezio face with lighting speed. The master assassin actually took a few steps back from the sheer force that hand held. Ezio growled and went back to back-hand the woman but stop when he saw her head down and her whole being trembling. La Volpe kept his mouth shut and watched from the side to let things take their course.

"You think I'm some common whore? You have no idea what I did to get to master assassin in my home. I am the first woman ever to reach this rank; and the only way I could do that was to learn the way of the courtesan before becoming an actual student of the creed." Rhea looked up at Ezio through strands of her hair that had come loose, her eyes melting from emotion. "Ezio, you don't understand what had happened in that room that you were looking into. Before Emilio became dominant, I had taken out one of these knifes to slit his throat." She showed him the stiletto, "He overpowered me and was about to rape me you god damned idiot. Do you know what it is like being overpowered and placed at the whim of a drunken man of your enemy? Of course you don't because you're a man and men go around being raped, and second we are physically weaker than men." Rhea showed the bite mark and a partial part of her bruised breast to him before turning to leave the two men. After taking a few steps she turned back around and put her face right in his.

"And for your information, I AM STILL A VIRGIN YOU PERVERT." Rhea growled. Ezio and La Volpe looked at her in surprise as she walked down the trail and to her house. The thief and assassin looked at each other after watching her form disappear behind a hill.

"I've had enough of this crazy woman for today." Ezio sighed; he began walking in the direction of the thief guild. "I'm going to sleep this off, see you tomorrow friend."

"Same to you Ezio; but before you leave, what do you think? Those Greeks have some character huh?" La Volpe chuckled. Ezio snorted at the thought of the Fury, he whistled for his horse and looked up at his friend.

"This woman is going to be a handful, but…." Ezio paused as he mounted the deep brown horse. "She reminds me of a friend I had ages ago, but I cannot place the name."

"Maybe it will come to you in the future. I will see you on the island. Ciao." La Volpe began walking in the direction Rhea had gone in.

"Maybe it will."

* * *

Hyperion whined as he watched his owner angrily wash the bloody makeup from her chest and arms. He laid on the bed as Rhea went behind the changing screen an stripped of the now ruined dress she will never want to wear and donned her sleeping gown. Tying her hair up for bed, Rhea opened the large windows to let the air circulate in the room and have the moonlight pour into the candle lit room. The moon was at a crescent that night, allowing the stars to shine with their tiny splendor. The female assassin sighed as she walked to her vanity and sat in front of the mirror with a small basin of water and a cloth. Taking the cloth, she wet it and wrung it of excess water and began rubbing her face to remove the facial mask she wore.

"You have a nice place here Madonna." Rhea jumped at the sound of La Volpe's voice and dropped the cloth to see him on HER bed petting HER dog through the mirror. She turned around to face the thief, not caring that she hadn't washed off all of the blood and makeup. Rhea glared at her pup that was enjoying the ear scratching that he was receiving.

"Traitor," She looked up as the thief lord, "let me guess, through the open window." La Volpe nodded, and stood from the bed; giving the dog one more pat and walking up to Rhea.

"Now we see the face of the Fury, or should I say Rhea Acollo of Greece." Rhea looked up at the man in surprise. How the hell did he figure out who she truly was this fast, she had only known this man for today. "Now before you start yelling profanities at me, let me explain how I know this. I have known about your presence in the city for about two weeks, and during that time I have also talked to my right hand man Antonio in Venice. He told me of Renaldo helping him and also missing his adoptive daughter who went back to Greece when she was eighteen. Antonio described me to you when you were that age, and when I saw you earlier this evening I match the description to yours but changed it seeing as you have grown."

"So this is only meager information about me. How is this worthy of even being spoken about?" Rhea asked as she took a hold of the wet cloth and finished washing her face.

"Well you didn't want us to know. Or you didn't want Ezio to know that you had returned from your homeland since you fancy the man." Rhea slammed the cloth down on the vanity behind her and stood from her stool.

"I…do…not…love…him." Rhea growled, but the fox only chuckled at Rhea's reaction.

"I never said that you do, but it is very interesting that you deny it. And also it seems that you are playing that same game that you did all those years ago, but this time as a woman instead of a man for obvious reasons. Now may I ask why?" He asked examining the scar that divided her face in a near perfect split. Rhea held a pregnant pause as she thought of her reason; why was she doing this? It seemed pointless for a second, but a second only.

"If I was a person to remember, he should be able to recognize me by my antics. But seeing that he doesn't, well I'm going to have fun torturing his mind bit until he finally sees me." Rhea answered, folding her arms in front of her chest and looking out the window.

"And what if I were to spoil this game for you Madonna? What would you do to earn my silence?" Rhea glared at the man before softening her gaze at him. Then put up an air of haughty aristocratic ego.

"I will pay you and do any mission you need me to do. But I am open for negotiation signore." Rhea mused, trying buy off the man.

"That will do and half the amount you get in rewards from your other missions; I will expect them as soon as you are done with one. Anything else before I leave?" La Volpe asked as he walked to the window.

"One last thing, a man named Alejandro. He is a higher up in the Templar order, and he is my ultimate prize. Tell me anything of his movements in Italia, it will assist me greatly." The fox nodded and right before he jumped down to the ground below, he looked back at the woman heading to her bed.

"And Rhea, be careful about your eyes. They will give away your emotions and your true self to Ezio." With that he disappeared into the night. Rhea snorted and extinguished the candles before lying next to her dog; she pet him as she dozed off and dreamed of better days. Days she will one day have again.

* * *

Ezio was back at Machiavelli's early that morning and was receiving information his underlings had brought from other parts of Europe. Also he told the man of what had gone down last night with The Fury.

"I swear to God Machiavelli, she has to be the most difficult woman I have ever dealt with. And we have yet to see her fighting techniques; personally I have little to no interest in working with her at all." Ezio grumbled, Machiavelli was busy absorbing all of Ezio's words while drinking his morning coffee. The men devised more plans against the Borgia through the people to liberate the city. And also renovation plans for the country side as well.

"Well at least tell it to my face instead of gossiping about it like a girl desperate for attention. I thought you Italians were lady's men." Rhea's voice echoed from behind them. Both turned to see her sitting on the bench by the European map. A scowl was on her tanned face and those eyes she had glowered at her older counterpart.

"You have the most amazing timing you know that?" Ezio sarcastically retorted, turning back to his partner. Rhea snorted, got up from her seat and walked over to the men. As she got in between them, she smacked Ezio upside the head and looked at the map of Roma Machiavelli had laid out.

"So I have been told. So what are you two planning for the future ahead?" She asked. Machiavelli repeated what needed to be heard by the woman, and she was soaking in all of the information like a sponge; also she examined the map carefully. Rhea owned a map, but it was back in the time of Romulus and she needed a more updated version to match up the location of the tombs within the city. "So you believe to take back the city through the people?"

"Yes, but in my opinion it is a bad idea. The people are incompetent of caring for themselves, see what has happened. They allowed the Borgia to take over not only Roma but all of Italia." Machiavelli retorted, he was frustrated over the fact that the people weren't being that much of help in this war that they would like them to be. But what could they do without revealing the secret war that was happening around them. Rhea looked at both Ezio and Machiavelli, and saw that they had opposite opinions about the matter.

"Well, I like the idea of getting the people involved." Rhea broke the silence.

"What? You do?" Ezio asked, not many people agreed with him on this matter and he was also surprised that the person who he had a rocky relationship in the beginning was actually on this side of this matter.

"Yes I do, I do because that's how we freed Greece from the grips of the Templars. How we did this was by of course killing the men making our land suffer, but then after that we would display the body for the public to see. Then we would send informants and novices to lay out evidence of their crime for the local authorities to find and then tell many heralds to tell of the secret and evil deeds that once figure head did. It's the basics of informing the people. And once they begin to recognize it on their own and retaliate, that is when you know the country is free." Rhea explained, "Hell I did a lot with my teammates when I was a trainee."

"Teammates?"

"Ah yes, when a training assassin is at a young age, they are put in squads of three with one master as their tutor. I was lucky enough to have the most Libral grand master assassin as my teacher." Rhea added to Ezio's question. "But believe me; the most basic information can go very far. It's like nudging a baby in the right direction very discreetly and once recognized, the people can take of themselves just fine." Both Ezio and Machiavelli sat on this for a good while.

"I like that, we show the people what our enemies have done in order to deserve their fate and we let the local authorities find evidence where they can find it. It will take time, but it will work." Machiavelli announced, he gathered a few papers and set them away for later. "Thank you Madonna, let us see if this will work." And with that the man vacated the area leaving Ezio and Rhea by their lonesome selvefs. It was awkward for a while until Ezio broke the silence.

"Just how old are you?" Rhea looked at him from her spot and sighed.

"Didn't your mother tell you that you are not supposed to ask a woman her age?" Rhea diverted. Ezio smirked at her and chuckled a bit at the woman. "Fine...I'm … I'm thirty two years old and I'll be thirty three by next December."

"Thirty two? Then how are you still a virgin then, you must have had someone in your life time?" Ezio added in disbelief.

"I'm not the most likeable woman Ezio."

"Really? I really didn't think you were." Ezio sarcastically jeered. Rhea shot him a look from under her hood; he shivered a bit, God damn it, it was those eyes again. They looked so familiar.

"Ha ha Ezio, you know that hurts a bit in the ego. But the reason I didn't is because I was too busy training to be what I am today. Plus, even as stupid as it sounds, I'm waiting."

"Waiting for what Madonna?" Ezio leaned in a bit, enjoying the invasion of her personal space.

"I'm not going to tell you _stronzo_, you'll only laugh at my words." Rhea griped, she walked back to the mission map table and sat on the edge of it. Her eyes laid on her home country; then the tiny speck that was her island.

"No really, Fury if we are going to work together; I need to know everything about my partners. Then I will tell you more about myself if it seems okay." Ezio explained, sitting on the bench next to her.

"So what? We are supposed to be amigo-amigo now?" Ezio nodded and smiled from under his hood. And no matter how the woman next to him disliked the master assassin, the smile he gave off was contagious enough to make her smile as well. Rhea sighed for who knows how many times and looked at him. "Promise not to laugh."

"I will try."

"Alright." She paused and leaned on her hands to look to the ceiling a bit. "I'm waiting for my soul mate." She closed her eyes and prepared for the teasing to come but only a small huff came from the grand master. She looked down at him with questions written on her face, but she saw that he was in deep thought.

"I had a friend, a long time ago, who told me that I should do the same. She thought the same thing, but then again she didn't look that appealing for she wasn't that womanly."Ezio said as he got up from his spot. The assassin walked a bit to the door and then stopped half way there. "Aren't you coming, I still need to observe your abilities woman."

Rhea rolled her eyes at his words and followed a good distance away from him. "This friend sounds like a wise person."

"She was for her age, but I lost contact with her as well." Ezio murmured the last part as they left the hideout and off the island.

* * *

They were well in the depths of an unliberated district, guards were everywhere, searching for the assassins that walked amongst them. The two weaved in and out of the crowds to get to the Borgia tower, apparently they had no fear considering even what had happened to Emilio the night before. As they were in sight, Ezio sent in his own underlings to take care of the guards around the base of the tower before moving in himself with Rhea trailing. The Borgia captain had seen the assassins move in and began running for safety, and the two masters were running strait after him.

Finally tired of the chase Ezio took to a roof top and aimed his hidden gun. Catching a good sight, Ezio shot down the man. Rhea seemed to have an appalled look to her face but didn't say anything at all. He questioned it immediately as they ran for shelter.

"What?"

"What do you mean 'What?'? You cheated; you should have ran after him or at least used one of your throwing knives to kill him, but a gun? Truly you have no sport." Rhea scoffed as they both jumped down to the city below and ran from oncoming guards.

"Sport? You call assassination sport? You are a messed up woman." Ezio called back as they engaged conflict, he delivered the first blow to a man by slashing him with his inherited sword. Rhea followed suit with her own parrying sword in her right and a dagger in her left hand. The two continued to bicker as they took down swarms of Borgia guards that seemed to crawl out of every crevice on the streets. Slowly, but surely, the two ran their way down to an open field. Not paying attention, Ezio whistled for his horse and continued to run out into the field. Rhea was already dispatching a pesky guard when she saw another get on to a horse and move in on the male assassin. Rhea screamed out Ezio's name for him to see, but she had to act fast.

Ezio turned at the sound of Rhea's scream to see a Borgia guards cantering towards him. The assassin took to a position, ready to dodge at the last possible moment; but from the looks of the sword being drawn it wasn't going to be easy. As the man on his horse got closer, Ezio crouched more to add to the spring to his dodge. Suddenly a loud crack was heard and a small metal bird's foot, no bigger than Ezio's own fist, flew through the air and dug it's talons into the guards flesh. The assassin could only watch as the foot was pulled back where it was from, and with the force of the horse and whatever was controlling it, the man's head was torn from his body. Soon the boy fell and the horse ran past Ezio and stopped to feed on a patch of grass.

The master assassin couldn't seem to register what the hell had just happened, he tried to put it all together until the answer was seen through the dust. As the dust cloud cleared where the body had fell; the assassin master saw his counterpart standing with the now headless corpse at her feet. In her right hand, Rhea twirled the leather black snake casually before jerking it to a violent stop. A chain reaction of force caused the bird's foot to open and release the head it had done so well to tear off.

Not sure to be either disgusted to amazed, Ezio jogged to the younger woman to see if she was not injured. He took great care to sidestep the corpse, but still examined the neck. The tendons and muscles were twisted in one direction to their straining point before they finally ripped apart: in other words, one bloody mess. Rhea flicked her wrist sharply, the shock wave going down the leather and then the claws to shake of unneeded blood; she then gently had the thing she controlled wrap over her shoulder till it coiled around to its end.

"What in all hell is that?" He questioned aghast at the blood piece of bronze that was not coiled and attached to her hip. Rhea chuckled a bit before walking in the direction he had just came, completely walking on top of the body, and to the now owner deprived horse.

"It's a Persian weapon called a dagger tail, this weapon along with my other whip with no metal appendage are my specialized weapons. And of course they are not the weapons I am not trained to a T with, that of course are my hidden blades. Now quit gawking at my ability and get your horse before more of those pests get here." Rhea replied. As Ezio went to claim his horse, Rhea approached the Borgia horse with caution; it stood there munching on grass as she got closer and closer to the beast. The coat was of white cream and brown spotted splattered all over the body; and the eyes, it looked up as she had gotten in range, were sky blue. Rhea smiled and clicked her tongue repeatedly to coax the horse closer.

After holding her hand out and clicking some more; the horse sniffed her hand before letting her pet the silkily muzzle. Rhea took little time to run her hand along the body and finally mount the horse. She, Rhea had seen, jolted a bit to get used to the lighter weight before going back to munching on the grass below. Ezio, by this time, had joined Rhea and just watched the bond form between the both of them. He nodded when she looked at him and nudged his own brown horse forward; Rhea lightly kicked the mare under her to follow the stallion that rode ahead.

Both Rhea and Ezio smiled to themselves without the other seeing. They both could not see the future ahead, but they shared similar thoughts: things were going to get out of proportion. But Rhea had one more thought, and it was to Ezio and Cesare.

'_Let the games begin you bastards_.'

**My thanks to:**

**XevilxbunnyX:**** Well here is more to kick off the new year :D. I'm getting my PS3 this weekend and I'm excited cause my buddy is getting me Brotherhood for a Christmas / birthday present. So yays, here's the new Chappy and I really love Rhea in this one cuase it just shows how laid back she can be at time and how the age difference between herself and Ezio. :P Loves you *gives and cookie and a hug***

**CreativeChica39****: Glad it's exciting, this one is even more exciting. Have fun reading it.**

**Keiko Hirohata: ****Thanks so much, I really appreciate all of the stuff you said. My grammar gets better every new chapter, plus my editor helps me out too. Storyline continues with more fun, though I hope I got La Volpe correct. I have friends who would kill me if I had gotten him wrong.**

**Portrait of a Scribe: ****Glad it caught you eye in the millions of Ezio stories of love and sex and many other feelings that need to be deplevoped over a long period of time….I like Brotherhood from what I have played. (I don't own it yet, but my best friend from school let me play my own file on her Xbox, but I am getting it as a gift.**

**Inya02: ****AHHHHH the horrors of the past. XP But I am going to fix it….soon. But hey you need to appreciate the long chapters, at least they are not two pages long, anyway you need to read the other chapters, I need feedback from my friend.**

**Popdude125: In reality, forgive and forget. And you do not need to beg forgiveness. **

If you saw the E3 trailer for Brotherhood watch this for fun:

.com/watch?v=kKrtbUinWOU


	7. Peace after the storm

**Author's Note:**** I'm back with a new chapter! Ain't it great. Sorry this one is a bit late but stuff in school has been keeping me preoccupied. Also I got a game and actually finished it, instead of getting me Brother Hood, my bud bought me Mass Effect 2 for the PS3 as a present, but don't worry I have played brother hood and I own the book so I know what happens. But on with Mass Effect, it's amazing, if you love Sci-Fi and RPGs go play it; after Letters gets really good I want to start a Fanfic for Mass Effect. It's still in the works and it won't take my attention away from this story. Also, chapters from now on will be this long, I've gotten a few complaints and it is really stressful to write 20+ page chapters. And to clarify, the corset Rhea wears is the outer buster corsets not the under in the dress corsets; I should have clarified sorry. I hope you guys like the little change of pace. Please read and review! I love feedback.**

* * *

_Rhea,_

_I'm sorry that I haven't replied to your letter in a long time. The assassinations have been very time consuming and I have lost focus in our friendship. Leonardo receives these letters for me and gives them to me when I have codex pages to decode. They, for some strange reason, always give me comfort knowing that I have someone who has some similarities to me and close to my age. _

_I was shocked to hear of the conformities that you have to deal with over in your home since you have started your training. I find that strange, but then again we come from two different cultures that will forever confuse me, but also learning of how fast you are learning not only pleases me but the other assassins here in Italia. Keep on pushing through ranks and maybe you can return to Italy and be one of us; and maybe try to be as good as me. I must also apologize for the length of this letter, I am so close to the Spaniard and the redemption of my family is right behind his death. Stay safe and strong friend, I will write again soon. _

_Take care friend,_

_Ezio Auditore da Frienze_

The yellowed page rested in Rhea's hand as she walked down the streets of Rome with a basket in one arm loaded with the week's worth in food. She no idea why she brought this with her, it was one thing that stabbed her heart so much that she would cry sometimes after reading it. Any other way, this was the last letter Ezio had ever written to her; the length had bugged her when she first saw it, they used to have shared letters that went on to ten pages, but it stopped after three years. She sighed solemnly as she stuffed the yellow parchment in her basket and fixed her dress as she continued down the street. The _Rosa in Fiore_, came into sight as Rhea exited one of the thousands of alley ways in the gargantuan city. Debating in her mind a bit and seeing that the sun was setting behind her, Rhea walked past the flirting courtesans and entered the perfumed bordello.

A wave of incense hit the female assassin with full force and nearly caused her to sneeze. Stifling the urge, Rhea walked up to the front desk where a familiar face stood. It was one of the girls from the party two months ago. The girl saw the older woman and brightened with joy when Rhea nodded to her in respect. The courtesan told the assassin that Claudia was detained for the moment but that Rhea was free to wait. Which is what she did; the assassin sat down in a love seat and waited for what was a total of five minutes before a verbal fight broke out above her head.

"What do you mean you are leaving? You need to stay longer; mother hasn't seen you in months."

"I understand that Claudia, but I need time alone."

"Time alone or a good fuck? What is plaguing you brother, your face is giving you away Ezio."

"It's nothing, just leave me be." By this time the argument and its contenders had gotten to the base of the stairs and were glaring at each other. Claudia seemed obviously peeved at her brother's negligence but was worried about him still. Ezio on the other hand looked like the living dead, he looked extremely tired and shaken; and Rhea had a hunch why. The two siblings argued a bit more till Ezio spotted their eavesdropper.

"Madonna, what are you doing here?" Ezio questioned, he dared not to be believe that a woman high strung as her would even step foot in this building; then again she had told him that she had been trained in the courtesan ways.

"Here to see me." Claudia clipped as she walked towards the other woman. "Ezio do me a favor and wait till I am done. I still have some business with you." Her older brother grunted as he walked into the room where their mother stayed. The younger woman turned to Rhea and sat next to her in another chair. Rhea noticed Claudia's beauty and her clear face, lucky. "It's taken you a while to come and see me, what has been keeping you?"

"La Volpe." Rhea replied as she brushed back a bang from her face and behind her ear. "I had struck a contract with him and now I am doing a lot of his dirty work. I am sincerely sorry, but this is the only free time that I have gotten in months." Claudia nodded to as she herself examined the assassin next to her. Claudia found her strangely beautiful, even with the scar that marred some of her neck, her facial scar was hidden under light make up. Rhea ignored the stares and continued the conversation that was dearly over due.

The deal between the two was that Rhea was off any courtesan missions since she was already preoccupied with La Volpe - that was never explained - but Rhea had a place to stay if she needed to hide in the _Rosa._ Content with the words exchanged Rhea stood to leave but stopped in mid step when she saw Ezio remerge from his mother's room. Now she saw the extent of Ezio's depression, well her assumption, he looked horrible and in need to get away from work. Claudia fussed over Ezio's condition and demanded that he stayed to rest his body. The next thing Rhea did shock not only Ezio but herself.

"Claudia, let Ezio come home with me." The master looked at her with eyes lit up in surprise, he thought that she hated him. She acted like he was under her mentally since he flirted around with other woman when he had the chance. But for the second time the two adults knew each other in the six months of working together, she was showing kindness. "I know that he needs to get away from the assassin world for a night or so. He can stay for the night and leave whenever he wants. How would that suffice Ezio?" She asked.

Ezio pondered for a few seconds before answering cheekily. "Why the hell not?" Rhea grinned, and linked arms with him. Ezio smirked at the woman with curiosity; but nothing was ever right. Rhea, after they left the bordello, had Ezio carry her basket while they made one last stop at the market. He grumbled to himself as Rhea had turned him into a lapdog as she paid for some strange concoction. Many women giggled and snickered at the buff assassin carrying a basket, but Rhea relieved him of his torture after they reached the outskirts of the city. The Grecian let out a fit of girly laughter at Ezio's irritated face when she took back the basket filled with dinner and a bouquet of flowers.

"Why does it seem that you are using every opportunity to make my life miserable?" He griped. Rhea kept on snickering to herself as she whipped tears from her eyes.

"Aww, don't be like that. I don't do it every single day do I?" She inquired, she smiled sweetly at him, but he wasn't buying it. Rhea's smiled depleted, she knew he wasn't in the mood. "Sorry, I didn't mean to put you through that much trouble. I just don't see you often to pull silly little pranks."

"Wait did you actually apologize to me?" Ezio asked, his ego fluttering back. Rhea closed her eyes in annoyance.

"Don't expect it often Auditore." It was her turn to gripe about him; Ezio smirked a bit before continuing their sunset walk. They continued to jeer at each other, trying to lighten the mood more, but something was still bugging Ezio. Their conversations stopped when shouts in Spanish and Italian, the two assassins' froze and exchanged glances. Ezio went off to find cover and a shadowy spot to see what was going on while Rhea continued to walk down the path to the group of houses that the noise was coming from. Cries for help got louder as Rhea stepped past the first house; Borgia guards were performing searches of the houses for anything suspicious, the assassins, hurting anyone who tried to stop them. Women and children were shielded by older brothers and fathers as the pathetic things called men threaded them with pike and swords.

"Enough, they are not here! Move on to the next set of homes!" The familiar voice of Cesare Borgia filled the air. The soldiers nodded and moved in formation to the west, the Cardinal General looked around the town and spotted Rhea from the crowd as it began to disperse. He recognized her from the party, and he walked up to her, his brown eyes examining her with sharp precision. Rhea glared at the man, expecting what he was going to say. "_Madonna_, I see you are not working."

Bastard. "I bought my way out of that employment; I do have some dignity _signore_." Rhea growled, she noticed Ezio in the shadows of a alley near by: ready for murder. She signaled no with her hand. Cesare smirked at Rhea attitude towards him. "But I see you are still doing what you do best in your line of work."

"And what would that be?"

"Striking fear into innocent people who don't deserve it." Rhea spat. She was showing that she obviously wanted nothing to do with him. She began to walk north towards her home, but the Templar grabbed for her arm. She winced, not only at his strength but also because she was nicked by a sword a couple days ago during a mission.

"Madonna, I would suggest that you do not play with fire, it would be displeasing to see some one of your beauty get hurt." Cesare grabbed her face to look down into her own blue eyes, trying to intimidate her. She started to shiver, not from fear but familiarity; then it hit her, Cesare was one of the men who held her still for her branding. The templar let her face go and walked back his men when he felt what he thought was fear. Rhea stood there, basket in hand, and spat at the ground the Spaniard had just stood at. Growling to herself, Rhea continued home.

It wasn't till Rhea was alone on the road Ezio joined her. He looked miffed, but concerned for his counterpart.

"You alright?"

"I'm fine, all he did was touch me."

"Are you positive Madonna?"

"I am."

"You should have let me kill him; it would have saved us a lot of trouble." Ezio said as they neared what seemed to be Rhea's home. The female assassin huffed as she pulled out a set of keys from her skirt.

"You have to wait for the opportune moment Ezio, that wasn't it. The time will come when you will kill him, but you have to tear him down from his tower first to cause any real damage to the Templars." Rhea told her guest as she walked up to the door and unlocked it. "Now I may warn you Hyperion is wary of new people in the house, he usually barks madly to strangers."

"Hyperion? You own a dog?" Ezio asked. Before Rhea could answer a large dog came tumbling down the hall, barking madly and trying to get in Ezio's face. The assassin jumped the sound and sheer size of the dog, it was the size of a foul! Rhea took a hold of Ezio's hand and held it to the dog's nose; Ezio resisted, from the fear of having his hand bitten but the large dog calmed down enough to sniff his gloved hand. Hyperion licked Ezio's hand as a greeting before trotting back into the house. Rhea laughed to herself.

"He likes you. That's good, now he won't piss on you as you sleep."

"Wait, he'll do that?" Ezio asking in surprise as he entered the small house. A fire was going the fire place as a pot hung above the flames. Rhea stepped into the kitchen and began to unload the packages as Ezio explored the bottom floor. Hyperion saw to it to follow the new person in the house, constantly sniffing his legs and feet. It wasn't long till Ezio wandered into the kitchen, hood down and completely exhausted as he plopped himself into a chair at the table. The mastiff followed the master assassin and placed his head in the man's lap for attention; the man himself watched Rhea as she began preparing things for their two person dinner.

"Utterly worthless dog." Rhea muttered as she began chopping carrots.

"Why say that? He's a good boy and very well trained." Ezio commented as he stroked the dog, finding a strange peace with the happy go lucky animal.

"Well yes, but he' a sucker for attention and food. You give him and bit of love and he'll slobber you and whine to be petted." Rhea answered, now moving on to the tomatoes. "He'll only act defensive when someone is threatening me, if they break into the house and pet Hyperion the robbers would get away with no scratches."

"Has it happened?"

"Almost, I chased out a couple of bandits when I first got here. Then again Hyperion was still getting housed trained and would be nice to anybody who even looked at him. I picked him of the streets when he was riffling through my trash." Rhea continued, she disappeared down the hall with a towel and returned with the pot that was hanging in the fire place. Ezio began to stand to help, but Rhea had already waddled to the counter and set the pot on the stove. She placed the carrots in, stirred the contents, and placed the lid back on to sit for a while. Rhea sat herself down on the opposite side of Ezio and looked at him. "Hyperion is still a good boy to have around though, I love him to death." Ezio smiled, for once in a few weeks, and patted Hyperion's head. They sat in silence for a while before Ezio asked for his accommodations. Rhea checked the pot again before having him follow her up the stairs. Rhea took him to a spare room she had, it was small but big enough to accommodate two people comfortably.

"Look, dinner will be ready in a few minutes. I have some of my father's clothes if you want to change out into them, you don't have to stay in your assassin robes while you're here." Rhea suggested. Ezio nodded and sat on the bed.

"Thank you Madonna, I appreciate it." Rhea smiled, and went to leave the room. She looked back at him before closing the door behind herself. Blue meeting honey.

* * *

It wasn't long till Ezio joined Rhea downstairs in her father's shirt, pants, and vest. Dinner was being served and the dog was nowhere to be seen. Rhea looked up when she heard him walk in and smirked to herself.

"Wow, I thought that they weren't going to fit you Ezio. Once again you surprise me." She mused as she ladling the contents of the pot into bowls.

"I am pretty sure that I am full of surprises, but how so tonight?" Ezio mused back, he like this atmosphere. It was calming and easy going, similar to when Ezio and Rhea had talked by the map of Europe those few months ago. This was a side of her he barley ever saw, and La Volpe always commented how funny she got when she was raising hell on innocent by standards on a bad day.

"Well, my father was a lanky man and I was afraid that you wouldn't fit in them at all. Then again the clothes and armor you wear are pretty bulky." Ezio chuckled a bit as he sat down where one of the bowls was placed. Rhea sat the other bowl across from it and soon joined it at its place. They both drank wine Rhea had set out and ate in silence; she didn't know why she was quite, maybe she was scared that the food was bad to him or something. Wait, why was she fretting about this?

"This is good." A weight was lifted off her shoulders. "You'd make a wonderful wife one day Fury." She then froze for a split second.

"Wife? Where did that come from?" Rhea asked in an annoyed tone. Ezio flinched, not knowing if she took it the wrong way.

"Not saying that you should give up being an assassin, but at least you'll be able to take care of yourself and someone else when you retire from this profession." His voice seemingly quieting as he continued. Rhea looked down at the red broth that reflected her fake face, she answered solemnly to his comment.

"I don't think the both of us will ever be able to retire Ezio, our profession won't allow it."

"I know."

"….I know about Caterina leaving and what she said to you." Ezio looked at the woman across from him with mixed emotions. She heard! The woman in front of him knew that the countess of Flori had broken his heart and used him and his resources to protect her now lost city. He was about to retaliate before Rhea stopped him. "I was walking past her room to give a report to Machiavelli when I happened to over hear what she had said to you and about…." She paused. Ezio closed his eyes in anger, this is why he had been visiting the _Rosa_ frequently. He wanted to banish any thoughts of love towards the red head from his mind, but the sex wasn't working. "What kind of woman does that?"

Ezio looked up at Rhea in surprise. "What did you say?"

"Come on Ezio, I've heard of men using women for their assets but hardly a woman using a man. She was a bitch for using you like a rag doll. You Italians confuse me." The man didn't know whether to be angry or amused. He was angry how Rhea brought it up out of the blue, but she was the first person to confront him about what had happened between him and who he had thought was his lover. A third party to observe the facts, and she sympathized him; this was weird even for her.

"Why are you treating me like this?" Ezio asked. Rhea looked into her wine glass then back up to Ezio. Her eyes a watery blue.

"Because I am not going to let you dig yourself a hole where I have been. You duty is to Roma and all of Italia, and you can't be slowed down by this emotion that will destroy you. Plus you looked like you really needed to get some down time from the assassinations. A good home cooked meal from a pretty girl does help too." Rhea arrogantly smiled, Ezio smiled too. Not because she was being cheeky, and not because she was being nicer than usual, but because she was going into territory that she shouldn't have and pulling him out by force. He was very intrigued.

* * *

The two finished their dinner, and sat in the main room nursing the bottle of wine in the living room. The only light was by the fireplace and a few candles as Ezio sat on the floor with Rhea and Hyperion; the dog's large head now occupied his master's soft lap as she scratched behind his ear. By now they were slightly drunk but having fun sharing stories, Ezio listening to Rhea's intriguing stories of her training.

"And once I finally mastered the dagger tail, Master had me fight almost all of our top level teachers in an arena with that weapon being my only one against spears, swords and the rest of the arsenal our brotherhood had." Rhea laughed as Ezio took a sip of his cup.

"You're kidding? What was the purpose of that?" Ezio asked, to him this seemed like she was fibbing.

"Well the purpose of that training was to show me what weapons it can over power. Usually I use it to kill soldiers on horseback and to pull people off rooftops if I am in a hurry and don't have to worry about being detected. It doesn't work well against swords and axes, the leather can be cut; the weapon is useless in many situations. And the regular whip can't really kill, it can discombobulate and weaken but never kill. The neatest thing that I have done with them though was an informant mission." Rhea sipped from her own cup to wet her throat.

"And how was that?" Ezio reached over and began petting the dog, Hyperion was loving the attention and was wagging his tail in approval of his treatment.

"Let me finish. I had to extract some information about a Templar from an information rat, these men are neutral but tend to sniff towards money, anyways I had knocked this mousy man out and hung him by his feet from the Parthenon rooftop. The dagger tail acted like a grappling hook and was wrapped around his feet without digging into his flesh. Well he woke up and began screaming for mercy, but he didn't talk. So I pretended to let the whip slip through my fingers, he then began to talk and piss himself." Rhea snickered, she remembered that event very well. Ezio playfully punched the woman in the shoulder. "Don't worry he still lives and now has an honorable life as a cobbler. I guess female assassins are the most malicious, we tend to take out our frustration from our moon cycle out on our victims."

Either it was the alcohol, or the fact he found that funny, Ezio began laughing. Not the light laughter, but good solid laughter. Rhea joined in as she refilled her glass with the last of the bottle. They were having fun, and Rhea couldn't remember why she had acted like a bitch to Ezio before. Ah, the anger of him not recognizing her; well that's out side of the window. Ezio calmed down a bit before finishing his glass.

"By the way, I've been meaning to ask. How did you sneak up on us like you did when we first met? I really want to know how, La Volpe would have seen you." Ezio questioned.

"Oh that, this is the truth and don't laugh. I had actually found the building about midday, and I was really tired; so I laid down on top of the doorway and actually took a nap. It wasn't until you came out the roof that I had woken up." Ezio looked at her strangely, that was the goofiest way on sneaking up on some one. But all he wanted to do now was talk more with this woman, he hadn't had this much fun in years.

"Alright Rhea, another; you are like a story book you have hundreds in that mind of yours." Rhea made a small whining noise.

"Ezio, I'm tired and it's very late. Please let me go to bed." Rhea drained half of her cup till Ezio spoke again.

"I have a challenge for you."

"And what is that challenge? You have been drinking so I am a bit wary what may come out of that mouth of yours." Rhea jeered, her face flushing from the alcohol. Italians knew how to make good wine.

"Well it's actually for me but you have a big role in this." Ezio responded. Rhea gave him a funny look.

"Go on."

"Alright, I'm tired of this trust barrier that you have about your name. I know that you won't tell me if I asked and you seem like the type who has fun with mind warfare. So I will guess twice a month, names that I suspect are yours. The closer I get, I get a small reward from you and the colder….I don't know you'll think of something." Ezio suggested. Rhea sat on this, swirling the red liquid in her cup.

"I'll give you a light punch if you're wrong, but what do you want as an indicator for when you are close?" Rhea knew he was going to do something that she wouldn't like.

"A peck for every name that I get closer to." There it was. Snorting Rhea looked into the fire, contemplating as Ezio waited for the string of drunken curses.

"Fine." Wait what? Rhea looked into the fire before closing her eyes and breathing deeply. "Enjoy this sweet attention you get Ezio because whenever I can, I will make your life uncomfortable. I'll play your game knowing, that you won't get it in the next few years. Deal." Rhea stuck out her hand, smirking at her confidence. Ezio smirked back.

"Deal." They shook on it. Ezio then got up and pulled Rhea up with him. She grabbed her and Ezio's glasses before getting the bottle and walking to the kitchen. Hyperion sleepily walked upstairs to Rhea room, but Ezio followed Rhea into the kitchen. He waited till Rhea had drained the rest of her wine and had a small cup of water. She turned to see him leaning on the door way, and she had to calm herself. Old feelings were coming up, and she liked how he looked with a beard. She instead gave him a questioning look at his confidant one. "So is your name Beatrice?"

Rhea sauntered up to Ezio, gave him a very flirty look, and rested her hands on her hip. He leaned his head down expecting a peck on the cheek, but earning a light tap on his jaw by her fist. Rhea giggled in a drunken matter before rushing up stairs.

"Better luck Ezio!" She called from upstairs, oh the alcohol in her veins. "But don't worry I have more stories for tomorrow." He heard her door close and chuckled as he followed suit and went to his room. The events from the day were now taking its toll along with the alcohol, but it was worth it. All the way. The moonlight filled his small room as he prepared for bed, but he ventured outside his room and silently peered into Rhea's room. She was asleep, her long hair sprawled out around her as her beloved pet snoozed on top of her small body.

"Lucky bastard." Ezio joked before he went back to his bed and let himself be embraced by the arms of sleep.

* * *

**My thanks to:**

**CreativeChica39: Ezio is a guy and he will be slow, and thank you about the writing style. I found my niche and it feels great; now all I hope is that I can continue this story without is going downhill. Keep on reading girl.**

**XevilxbunnyX: Inspiration will come eventually to you, don't worry about it xD. Don't worry I didn't know what to do with this chapter first until I started writing it. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and the bit of change of pace that occurred.**

**RiskyPixie: Hey you, yes you…read the other chapters now…please?**

**Booma: Thank you and please keep on reading and reviewing.**

**Narsha: Thanks Narsha, I appreciate all of the stuff you are saying, I will keep it in thought. I am planning for some flashbacks now because of your review. And the whole thing with Ezio is because she still has a grudge against him and she wants to make him suffer for it, but as in this chapter she begins to soften up. And her beauty I would like it to be more rugged, and Rhea doesn't have just a few scars, her entire torso is littered with them; then again those came from when she was a novice but that will be explained soon. Thanks for the constructive criticism.**

**Personface: Sorry, this author begs for forgiveness. And sorry about the corset, I explain it in the author's note, it's actually called a buster ( I think) but it still is a corset to me. And about her sneaking up on the other assassin's is explained, I try to make it as accurate as possible but nobody is perfect man. Have fun reading.**

**If you would like Rhea to do something cool in the story for a mission let me know in your review because I need a mission idea and I can't come up with one. Please let me know, writers block! DAMN YOU WRITER'S BLOCK!**


	8. The Shit Hits the Fan

**Author's note: I'm still alive and kicking, with this new update epicness is shown...actually that's up to you guys but chapter seven is finally done for the public to veiw. I just wanted to let you guys know that even though it is summer, I have a job and another story that I am working on, so hopefully I can alternate between the three of them! I still love you guys and hope you review! By the way the E3 trailer for Revelations had me squeal multiple times!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own the characters or original story line to Assassin's Creed, I do own Rhea and Hyperion!**

* * *

Just a routine mission, you know with the simplicity of "Oh, I've done this before". But no, not today. Today was special in its own way. One it was in the middle of December, two Rhea was in a lot of pain, and three she was wet and sleepy. Now before one goes to the dirty side of things yes it is winter, and Rhea in a lot of pain from a bullet wound in her shoulder, a sword slash under the arm pit and it was her moon cycle and Rhea was a heavy bleeder. The wet part? As of that moment Rhea had been captured by the Borgia, thrown in a dank cell, and were constantly throwing water on her to keep her awake. She could feel the phenomena setting in her lungs.

The enemy's men had tried to take advantage of the woman, but she had retaliated by kicking, screaming and slashing at them; being as wild as she could to turn the men off. And as of right now it was working pretty well, except for the fact that they had resorted to chaining her hands above her head as she sat. With all of the blood drained from her fingers, Rhea was in agony and all she wanted to do was sleep. She was hoping that this mission was worth all of the trouble and that someone was going to save her before she succumbed to nostalgia.

* * *

_Six hours before_

"I don't see why I have to be here, one of your underlings could accompany you easily Ezio." Rhea grumbled as she rubbed her hands together. She hated winter in all forms, though she was born in the winter months, life on the island wasn't as tortuous as it was in Rome. There were faint traces of snow on the ground and the grass was a dead yellow-brown color. Before the mission, Rhea had grabbed one of the coats of Ezio's old robe even though she already had winter clothing of her own -and on the humorous side - the robes engulfed her in fabric.

"I could have but I wanted to spend more time with you….Teresa?" Rhea gave him a blank look as they rode to the edges of the giant city. They had been at this game for about four months now, so a total of eight guesses; and Ezio was on his ninth. He had given up on Italian names and went for the popular Greek names. Rhea shook her head and pushed her horse on a bit faster to get to the mission sight. Apparently they had to get inside a set of catacombs and retrieve a few scrolls pertaining to the pieces of Eden and another strange set of objects.

Rhea reached the entrance first, if you called something that looked like a dog door one, and let her horse wander in the fields around them. Ezio shortly joined her and let his on mare do the same; he scanned the area with his gaze before approaching the dog door cautiously. Rhea quickly stopped him by placing one of her hands on his shoulder; looking back Ezio gave her a small smirk

"Worried Madon-" He froze in surprise when Rhea gave him a gentle peck on his scruffy cheek. When she retreated Ezio's smirk grew into a perverted grin. Rhea was blushing furiously as she glared at a random rock so he couldn't see her expression. "Are you falling for me Madonna? It's only been a few months that we have finally gotten along, am I really that charming?" Oh he was having fun watching the Fury growl at him with lethality, he even chuckled when she shoved him away from the trap door. Rhea flung herself inside of the catacombs, not wanting to hear any more of Ezio jeers; she was only keeping her side of the bargain! The older assassin followed, and instantly they both raced down the tunnels.

Along the way they had encountered a few scouts to the son of Romulus, and finding discarded chests of florins. Rhea had taken most of them, apparently Hyperion was eating more and she need more blankets to keep herself warm; she had also argued that Ezio had way more resources with him managing the banks in Rome. Ezio didn't argue, he could tell that his female companion needed her space since she was grumbling constantly about being cold.

The further they traveled, memories of the Athenian brotherhood hideout reached into Rhea's mind. The dark tunnels, lanterns everywhere, subtle echoes of feet; it was almost home to her. Past missions and training sessions dared to trickle from her memory, but Rhea pushed them away for another time. It was time to focus.

After a half an hour of sifting through the tunnels and dozens of the wolf-men, the duo came upon the scroll chamber. Treasure chests and scrolls were scattered everywhere, giving Rhea access to their gifts. Ezio rolled his eyes as the woman's inner greed got the best of her as he retrieved a key for the vault, two more like it were still hidden. Rhea, on the other hand, wasn't being picky about the slim purses of the wolf-men; it wasn't long till she had collected ten thousand florins that happily jingled in her side pouch. She grinned at the thought; she had enough to pay off La Volpe for three missions. Ezio gave her a weird look; he wasn't used to her having this sort of evil grin on her face. It usually meant that she had some demeaning remark or some blackmail on some one. Either way, he didn't want to deal with it.

"So Madonna, any interesting stories for me as we walk back?" The older assassin asked. Rhea looked a little in disbelief at Ezio, now he was prying into her past. What were they, best friends or something? Rhea's self esteem went down a bit at the thought of "friend", but then again she was earning her friendship back with the man she still had feelings for.

"What do you want to hear? I have a plethora of weird yet funny stories." Rhea replied, they were now walking back through a secret tunnel.

"Oh how about the strangest assassination you have ever done." Ezio suggested, the dim light from the torches danced across his face as they moved slowly through.

"Alright…..I do have one. It's funny, not for the manner that it happened but the fact it happened on accident….

* * *

_The bathhouse was a favorite of Rhea's, especially the one in the center of the middle class district. The service was wonderful, and the view was amazing if you went to the outer cool baths before you went back home. It was after a tough mission in Sparta, and Rhea's team had dispersed when they had arrived back at the brotherhood hideout; and Rhea wanted to bathe and relax without the boys bugging her. She sighed as she let her twenty one year old self sink under the perfumed water and rest on the blue and green tile walls of the bath. Since it was late at night, the place was nearly deserted with exception of a few higher class people who had images to uphold and the staff. _

_Currently a six year old girl was helping Rhea wash her hair and back, her little hands pruned from the warm water and soaked in the rich smells of flower and honey of the oils. After all of Rhea's long curls were rinsed, the child attempted and eventually succeeded in taming Rhea's hair into a braid; Rhea tipped the girl at least twice her pay for her success. After soaking in the warm bath for a good half hour, Rhea slipped out of the hot water and wrapped her toned being in a towel. Her body was finally starting to fill out, starting at her hips which gave her a slick pear shape; but even with the tight muscles she had, Rhea's skin was still marred with scars from her day in the dungeon in Venice. But now it was a time to relax instead of wallowing in the past; the young woman took a hold of her clothing basket and headed to the outer baths with the little girl trailing her footsteps._

_The night sky was littered with stars as the two female figures walked to the outer baths. The little girl bowed before departing into the service tunnels, leaving the young adult to have a final soak while watching the night sky. The wind from the west blew softly, turning fields of wheat into an ocean with gentle waves. Rhea couldn't ask for more. _

_As her body began to sink into the shallow bath, her hair became heavy with water which pulled her head back a bit, annoying but a natural thing. What made her uncomfortable was whispers, and silencing her thoughts and closing her eyes, Rhea stayed absolutely still as she concentrated on the angered words spoken._

"_I can't believe those stupid barbarians tried to kill me! ME! I am the greatest man of Athens, and those stupid assassins tried to end my life with such an insult. A novice they send to assassinate me! BAH! Boy make sure that the man's corpse is strung up like a traitors once he dies from his injuries." It sounded like Theo, he was a major political power in the city and had his hand in the banking 's partner Fadi was supposed to assassinate him tonight to enter the master ranks; sounds like he got caught in a trap, which wasn't surprising. Fadi had a nick for falling into obvious traps, Rhea and Apollo had to constantly save him. Apollo was the first to reach the master rank and get the brand to show, Fadi was to be next and Rhea still had a few years to go before she would reach that ranks; the first woman to reach master assassin, not courtesan. _

_But time was of the essence, taking a small dunk under the surface; Rhea climbed out of the pool and tightly wrapped her towel around her body. Using her skills, Rhea slipped into the service tunnels and followed the constant yells of "MORE STEAM!" Theo was a greedy man, he constantly came to this place to flaunt his money to the public as he bought out the biggest and most expensive baths in the building. His guards would be stationed at any opening to the usual bath that the miser used, hopefully not the service entrance. On her way there, a teenage service boy crossed who wore a rat skull on a string of leather paths with Rhea, he opened his mouth to shoo her out of the tunnels until she spoke._

"_Go to the nest; inform the eagles that the hawk has been caught in the lion's den of David." Her blue eyes gleaming in the torch light, and the shadows showing off her facial scar as she spoke in a hushed voice. The boy clamped his mouth shut and rushed to a small crevice that lead to the brotherhood hideout, almost every person who worked here was an informant. The assassins new by the rat skulls the informants wore, the common public and templars saw the rat skulls as a way of identifying potential pickpockets when it actually signified an informational snitch to the assassins._

_The voice died down as Rhea got closer, maybe he was finally calming down and actually relaxing. That theory was shot when she heard low moans and groans. Rhea's face lit up at the sounds and ground her teeth to keep herself from squealing in disgust. In her mind she begged for the thing she was hearing not to be what she thought it was. It was so hard not to throw up, but the young assassin kept pressing on._

_The groans stopped with a sigh as Rhea approached the service door to that bath, tightening her towel and grabbing a jar of scented oils. The wealthy Templar turned his head to the sound of a door opening and closing, he spotted the young woman and looked at her indifferently; he had a beautiful young wife and this girl seemed a strange air about her as she drew nearer._

"_About time they hire some good looking help, I'm tired of eunuchs and small children." Leo griped as the woman wrapped in clouds of steam took to her station and began filling the bath with the oils. Their intoxicating scent was relaxing to him, even more than the spews of steam that came from the floor vents. Reaching out, Leo took a hold of the woman's loose locks of curly black hair with his fingers and examined it under his gaze. Leo had a eye for valuable things, and this girl seemed to be valuable._

_Rhea kept her emotions in check as the man rubbed her hair with his grubby, in her thought process, fingers. She internally growled as he even went to touch her skin, thankfully avoiding a whip scar. Finishing with the oils, she "accidently" dropped the oils jar and hurried to pick up the shards. The Templar laughed at her "clumsy" act and shifted from his sitting position as Rhea went to pick up the shards. The man watched as she discreetly picked up the longest shard and stood from her spot; he thought she was acting a bit strange until she turned around to face him. It felt as if his bath water had gone cold._

_From under black wet bangs and the piercing gaze of blue, a long scar ran down the girl's face; it was that mark he recognized her from the rumors. In a desperate attempt, Leo tried to call for his guards but Rhea was faster as she grabbed his throat and squeezed hard to inhibit his ability to yell for help. _

"_May the gods pity you in the afterlife."She whispered, and with that, the long piece of pottery was shoved into the man's throat. Not wanting to look intentional, Rhea placed the cooling body onto the pot shards and dropped some more oil at the side of the bath where the corpse was laying. The perfect accident; acting quickly, Rhea smashed another pot screamed to alert the men outside the bath before racing down the service tunnels. Hands stained in blood and blackmail for her comrade incapacitated._

* * *

Ezio listened as Rhea told her story, of course saying "I" when referring to herself to keep their game going. They were now reaching the exit, the setting sun's rays were peeking through the cracks in the ruins they traveled finished her tale when they reached the trapdoor that would lead them to the surface. He had made some snide comments on the way up, but Rhea ignored them and finished without a hitch. Ezio was slightly impressed on how Rhea had killed the Templar, using her surroundings as a weapon.

"A true assassin must always be attuned to their surroundings, and use them to their advantage. That's how I was taught when I first started out." Rhea added.

"It makes sense." Ezio said, he pushed the trapdoor open for Rhea and let her pass through first like any gentle man would. Rhea had even snarkly replied with a "thank you" and a small curtsy; both adult snickered at each other and continued out.

Rhea enjoyed the feel of the fresh air around her, it felt heavenly compared to the dry air of the underground. As she popped her joint and kinks out of her body Ezio joined her side keeping a look out for anything suspicious. Unsurprisingly his horse wasn't around, but Rhea's also wasn't around and Ezio's horse didn't come when he called for him. After taking her from the Borgia solider, Rhea's horse never left the vicinity unless her master told her to go home; and Ezio's horse always came when he whistled. Something was wrong if both horses weren't there; Rhea had shown him before that animals had a better sense of the situation than humans, so if their loyal animals weren't there something was terribly wrong. In the distance they heard the sound of thunder through the ground; guessing what it was, both of them drew their swords as three squads of Borgia men came at them from all sides.

Their general broke through their ranks to stare the two assassins down, and he grinned gleefully at the thought of capturing two of their enemies. Drawing his sword and pointing it at Ezio, the man's chest seemed to puff up with his ego; Rhea rolled her eyes as she examined the circle of living flesh for a crack, so far nothing but stupid men and pointy objects. She growled quietly as she rolled her wrists, preparing for a signal from her comrade. All she saw was the general barking about how their deaths would not come swiftly and so on and so forth, and Ezio glaring the man down. So it was the wait till they attack first, the woman sighed with a noticeable bored tone. The man on top of the horse reprimanded Rhea for her dishonorable behavior in rapid Spanish.

"Look nothing against you or anything," Rhea began, "but I'm tired and I want to go home and sleep. Do us all a favor and go die in a corner quietly." The older man seethed with anger and Ezio just gave an exasperated sigh, she really had to act like this. But it did get the Borgia to attack first. The first wave of men had been hesitant to attack, so both Rhea and Ezio cut them down like flies. But wave after wave, the soldiers became more aggressive, tiring both assassins slowly. Rhea spotted their general, who was now sure if he stayed around he would die, trying to navigate through his men. Calling to Ezio, she caught his attention; Ezio was closer but was preoccupied with men coming to his direction. Sending a silent message to each other, Rhea charged at the older man as he pushed back his opponents long enough for him to lock his fingers together. Working as one, Rhea jumped into Ezio's hands and used the force of Ezio's upward push and her legs to launch herself over the soldiers. The female assassin landed in a roll before running ahead of the general by running through the tree line.

Once at a good spot, Rhea stood in the middle of the road with her sword drawn and bloody. The man on horseback predicted that he could run the woman over, but Rhea cut down his horse with ease, sending the man flying into the winter mud. The woman wasted no time into running to her foe and ending his life quickly. Rhea withdrew her blade and looked her handy work, she was nearly covered in blood that belonged to both man and beast, she was tired, and she was on edge. Something was bugging her and she couldn't figure out why; looking around her surroundings Rhea saw that the immense number of Borgia guards had depleted and the rest were chasing after one lone man. Ezio, Rhea chuckled to herself, the two assassins would meet tomorrow and discuss their finds with the other masters. Heading to the east, Rhea walked at a brisk pace as she pulled Ezio's larger clothes closer to her body to keep in the warmth. After all of adrenaline in her system had worn off the woman was tired beyond compare and cold, what she needed now was a warm bath and to snuggle with Hyperion in her bed; the dog had taken his role as her personal bed heater for the past few weeks.

The snapping of tree twigs broke Rhea from her thoughts, standing at attention she scanned the area for danger. Not seeing any, Rhea blamed the local wildlife and continued down the marked path. The sun was setting and Rhea wasn't even halfway home, it was supposed to be a calming walk but after the twig Rhea was on edge now.

* * *

When Rhea finally saw the roof of her house she slowed and whistled loudly, the happy barking of her pet echoed into the night with Rhea's silent chuckles. The loud bang and the searing pain in her shoulder was unexpected. The force of whatever hit her caused the assassin to trip over her own feet and fall to the ground, she turned slightly to see the glint of a chest plate from the tree line. God damn Borgia! Rhea's mind flooded with worry as Hyperion's happy barks turned into growls and howls of anger; her friend wished to protect his master, kill who ever had hurt her, but Rhea wanted none of that to happen. Turning to look behind her, the assassin saw her shooter walk up to her from at distance of one hundred meters. Her assailant would most likely shoot her dog if he got to close; in mid panic Rhea remembered the Greek flute of Pan she had found before leaving her home Island. She had figured out it was a relic of the Gods when she had played it to a pack of wolves ; the tunes she created soothed the wild animals into a loving state of mind.

Digging into her pocket, Rhea pulled the flute out and began to play softly, hoping Hyperion would hear her thoughts like the wolves had. _Find someone to help!_ That raced in Rhea's mind as the footsteps reached to her side; quickly stuffing the flute into her shirt, Rhea looked up to see Cesare standing above her with his rifle butt by her head. Mustering up as much energy her blood depleted body could, she actually hissed at him like the actually Furies from legend would to intimidate fear into their victims. The Spainard smirked at her attempts to strike fear in him and with no remorse, cracked the butt of his rifle on her head. Rhea fell limp at impact, feeling the cold embrace of darkness.

The Templar signaled his men to come and pick up their new prisoner. The men weren't too gentle with her body, or bashful enough to not grope her on "accident", the woman was out like a light and would not awaken for many hours. Not paying any head to the whine dog, Cesare led his men to a set of underground catacombs that his people used as cells for torture and other things that would scar the common person's eyes and ears. It actually wasn't that far, but it had taken a long time since the Borgia didn't want the other assassins to find their hideout. He only looked for human elements, not animal.

The spell of the flute had ordered Hyperion to follow the men who took his master to the entrance of their hideout before seeking out a familiar scent. The dog honed in on the scent of "the fox" and headed for Timber Island, in his jowls the bloodied cloth of his dear adoptive mother.

* * *

Every single one of them was now on her hit list, everyman who had splashed water on her, spit on her or made even the slightest snide look at her was on her hit list. They had been at it for a total of seven hours now, all the woman wanted to do was sleep; she had nearly succeeded in ignoring the splashing water until one of the men had the bright idea of pissing on her. He nearly lost his precious sexual instrument by the woman. But now she was a shivering wreck, losing blood naturally and unnaturally. The men stopped their orders to keep her awake when Cesare had entered her cell wing, with mutters and low orders, the men entered Rhea's cell, undid her cuff from the wall, and roughly picked her up. The group followed their leader with the exhausted assassin in tow to another room. Inside were Cesare's family, his father and his sister; and in that room lay dozens of torture devices and a short wooden pillar in the middle. As if it were a drill, the men man handling Rhea took her to the pillar so that she was somewhat hugging it as they chained her to it. Listening to snippets of their conversations, Rhea processed that the family intended to get some information from her any way possible. She felt the cold blade of a dagger as it cut through the wet robes Ezio had let her borrow, god damn it. With her back exposed, Rhea heard a small gasp of breath from Lucrezia and chuckles from Cesare.

"So Alejandro's owlet has become a full fledged predator?" The young Templar mused; Rhea froze at his words and was fully awake despite her body's protest. Shit! He remembered her; the scars on her back were the obvious give away. Both Rodrigo and Cesare remembered the night where Alejandro had beaten the child of his enemies an inch from death before she had bitten off some of his fingers. Rhea now struggled to get her bloody wrist to slip through the metal cuffs, but with no luck she listened to the Spaniards' conversations. War, the apple, herself, and Ezio. They wanted to know everything, and they expected to get it from her. Rhea stopped fidgeting when she felt a warm hand on her marred back; obviously male, the hand was calloused and thin. Rhea saw Rodrigo and Lucrezia at one side of her and barley saw Cesare from her prorifrial vision. By his "tender" action, Rhea lashed out and began cursing many profanities at the man for daring to touch her. The Spainard only laughed at Rhea's actions before grabbing the back of her neck and slamming her throat in to the wood. "Now listen little assassin, I know you are that woman who killed Emilio; it wasn't that hard to figure it out after that night in the small cluster of houses." He paused, looking at his sister who had this slight disaproving look on her face. The woman may have been a Templar, but with the way her brother was treating the assassin woman who was a book of stories with every mark that marred her skin, the look in Rhea's eyes wanted her to tell her brother to stop: she didn't.

"I am not as nice as Alejandro, I will be questioning you till you crack and beg me to end your life with your own blade. Senorita, you will not survive this unless to give me what I need. But remember how defiant you were before, you won't beg for mercy." Cesare picked up Rhea's whip, her eyes widened when she heard the crack of leather when Cesare tested it out on a chair. Fuck. Tears threatened to spill as she remembered what the welts on her friends had looked like after a practice fight. "Now, before we begin. You have anything to tell me, Rhea Allocco?" The sound of her name on his tongue made her nostrils flare in rage, turning her head she screamed in defiance.

"Πάνε fuck εσείς Εσείς βρώμικο templar!" A crack of a whip and a strangled scream followed.

* * *

**Translation:**

**Πάνε fuck εσείς Εσείς βρώμικο templar:** Go fuck yourself you dirty Templar!

**My thanks to:**

**booma**: thanks a lot, I plan to have this stretch out a bit more and hopefully grow for a few god chapters more. Please keep reading!

**Narsha:** I really appreciate the advice there Narsha, I didn't quite see the signs until you pointed them out. Thanks a ton and please keep on reading and reviewing!

**Keiko Hirohata:** KEIKO! I am so happy to hear from you! I'm glad you like the rewrite and yes I get the idea that Rhea is a bit young to understand everything but hey she's mine and I say that she was a baby genius...just kidding :P! It's funny cause my editor it bugging when Ezio will figrue out who Rhea truly is...who knows. Keep in taps girl!

**personface**:...I'm tring to get Rhea to go to Mary-sue prevention therapy, and I think its working *Rhea smacks Penna* OW!

**Portrait of a Scribe:** I hope you see the connection to your review, it isn't exactly what you suggested but I did take it to heart. In this chapter you see how Rhea can be mortal, probably not as much as others would want her to be, but still enough in my tastes. She is very good t what she does and ridicules herself if she does slip up, but this time she doesn't have the time. Please review!

TO THOSE WHO DON'T REVIEW WHEN THEY READ...REVIEW! 0vo


	9. Will you accept me

**A/N:this is a fixed version of the original! SEE NEXT CHAPTER TO SEE THE EFFECTS OF THE CHANGE! :D**

* * *

Ezio, La Volpe, Machiavelli and Bartemello stood around a made of Roma and all of the secret passage ways; the four of them planning new ways of forcing their enemies out. They had worked well into the night and in the early morning were Ezio HAD to stop and rest. He and his comrades took their seats where ever they felt most comfortable and conversed a bit. Ezio stayed quiet, thinking about the Greek assassin who he had not seen in three days. The last time she was at the Timber Island hideout she had said she would like to be included in these meanings since she knew the city nearly as well as Machiavelli. But she had not heard from her at all, but Ezio knew she was a strong woman and decided to leave that thought behind knowing she would make fun of him caring for her.

La Volpe noticed Ezio space out a bit and snickered to himself, and he had an idea why. His spies watched the city under his orders and gossip from the courtesans could only back up his suspicions about his two friends. The old relationship Ezio and Rhea had back in Venice was blooming back but slowly for Ezio again did not know Rhea's true identity. "Ezio, how is our Greek friend doing? She would have come here and demanded for a mission by now."

"That's what worried me La Volpe, I haven't heard from her in awhile. The woman's too stubborn to take a break after the small conflict with the Borgia guards the other day." Ezio rubbed his face, feeling his beard and yawning, thankfully one of his underlings brought him and the other masters something to drink before they continued on with their plans. "But I don't want to think right now, I'm too tired for anything right now."

"Really, seem to have grown fond of her over the past few months. And she the same, but then again the woman likes to deceive others through mind games. Tell me didn't you have another female friend like that before?" The fox grinned from under his hood, he felt like breaking that deal Rhea had made him agree to, she had already paid him enough money for him to get bored; now it was time to stoke the fire in Ezio's memory.

"HA, La Volpe you seriously can't be talking about Rhea back when Ezio and I were in Venice. How did you know about her?" Bartemello barked a laugh.

"My contact Antonio had told me about when she had left for her homeland and when Ezio first came here to fight Rodrigo." La Volpe explained in a calm tone, still waiting for the gears in Ezio's head to start turning.

"Rhea? Rhea…ah I remember her now! She was an annoying brat sometimes but she and I still managed to get along as we talked more. But it was tough letters, and she had made an alias for herself so I would always be thrown off her tracks…" Ezio had slowed down his speech a bit, the memories were coming back. Along with the similarities Rhea and the Fury had. Bartemello chuckled a bit more.

"Remember the look on your face when you had found out that Rhea had been the scrawny courier that ran around the city of Venice for us. The boys had fun laughing at you as well." Ezio's face darkened, he had been tricked again! And this time he realized Rhea had been purposely been leaving clues to who she was ages ago. For her own entertainment! By God why did she do it again!

"I am going to kill that woman the next time I see her." Ezio growled as he downed the contents of his cup. La Volpe snickered openly as one of Machiavelli's spies came through the main entrance. Ezio glared at the thief. "You knew the entire time? How did you even recognize her if you have never seen each other before now?"

"He knew what?" The mercenary commented, he was tired and barley listening at all.

"La Volpe knew that Rhea was the Fury the entire time she has been here." Ezio groaned. The spy left to the entrance again. The mercenary paused a bit and started laughing at the irony, but the assassin thought differently. Machiavelli only saw it as a silly annoyance that could add to Ezio's stress, but he saw that the man, under his hood, smirked a bit at the thought of that woman. She really did mean a lot to him.

"Seems like Rhea was right, this man was dense until something was shoved in his face." All of the assassin's but Machiavelli jumped at the sound of another man's voice; turning they watched as three men of different ages were escorted by Machiavelli's spy. The man who had spoken was what The Fury, now known as Rhea, described to be the perfect Greek man in a woman's mind. Well built and tall, but this man was more lean than anything else; and seeing the size of the long bow he had strapped to his back he sure knew how to use one.

"Come on Apollo, don't be too harsh on the man." The other young man added, lightly punching his friend on the shoulder. This man was taller than the average man in all of Italia. With his darker skin color Ezio could tell that this man was of more eastern decent then the other two. He carried a broad sword and an arsenal of throwing knives that covered his chest amour.

The older and shorter of the three gave both men a look to stop bickering among them even though they hadn't even started. The two immediately shut their mouths and finally made their way to the leaders of the Italia brotherhood. Ezio had also noticed their uniforms, they were very similar to the uniforms Altair had worn in his day only these uniforms had more color than just red and white.

"Friends, these men have come to represent the Greek brotherhood our current resident has hailed from. Master Anker had contacted me months ago, asking if he could speak with us on another mission Rhea had been sent on." Machiavelli explained as he bowed to the older man, he was returned that respect by Anker and the other two men who flanked him. When the three erected themselves back up, the Greek men got down to business.

"I know this is very demanding of us, but we wish to speak with little Rhea as soon as possible." The man named Apollo said as he took himself a seat by the fire, obviously warming himself up.

"Good luck with that, we haven't heard from the woman in days. What makes you think that we'll know her exact location in a city as big as Roma?" Bartemello yawned. The man was getting older and his body couldn't take much more before he would pass out from exhaustion.

"I don't know, Fadi was able to find her easily in the city of Constantinople. You just have to see where the mischief leaves a long enough trial. And that city was easily three times the size of Roma." Apollo sneered as he pointed to his Arabic partner. The Italians easily picked up on that the dirty blonde haired man didn't quite care for Italians at all. His master reprimanded him by harshly speaking to him in their native tongue. The master and the other assassin sighed at Apollo's remarks and continued on.

"What my partner is trying to say is that, it's not hard to find Rhea even when she doesn't want to be found. But the matter is very important that we find her…she has duties to fill." Fadi had awkwardly said the last part, seeing on how bad that sounded.

"And what are these duties?" Ezio asked, he leaned back into his chair more. Fadi looked to Anker for permission before continuing on.

"Like the pieces of Eden that we all seek to keep from the Templars, the Greeks have similar relics that we wish to keep hidden away for centuries to come. The relics are believed to have been the items recognized with the twelve Olympian Gods. Rhea had been sent here to first aid you in your mission to free all of Italia, but secondly obtain the hearth of Hestia and the robe of Aphrodite." Fadi explained. The assassins looked at him with confusion, Fadi sighed again. "Have you ever seen Rhea have a little flute that has two ends with holes in them?"

"Yes, I've seen her even play it when we are out in the fields of the city. But what does that have to do with anything?" Ezio commented.

"Have you seen anything unusual happen after she's done playing it?"

"Only that horses like to come up to her, but only ours." Ezio wasn't putting two and two together.

"That flute that she carries is Pan of the wild's flute. In the legends, Pan was a satyr that had a magical flute that could drive men mad or tame the most ferocious of beasts. That is the item she carries on her person. We are here to help her find the other two items." Fadi explained once more.

"How do you even know these items are what they say they are, if they exist would the items be considered the pieces of Eden as well?" La Volpe asked, he was greatly intrigued by this founding.

"What is to be believed that priestess on an island off the western coast of Greece had enchanted or curse certain items that symbolized the Greek Goddesses and Pan. Half of the temple is under water, along with Athena's shield and a golden statue of a peacock for Hera." Anker added. "They aren't as important as the pieces of Eden but they have properties to them that the hands of man should never handle. So we are striving to collect them and place them in their proper place."

"The island is actually where Rhea grew up as a young girl before coming to Italy for the first time." Apollo piped up, he seemed to be in a slightly better mood than before.

"Alright then, what is the second thing Rhea is needed for? You had said she was needed for multiple things." Ezio asked.

"Rhea is to come home with us." Anker began, the Italian assassins looked at them with shock. They were pulling her out right when they needed her the most? La Volpe was about to object with Machiavelli agreeing with him before Anker spoke again. "She is to come home to become the master of the Greek brotherhood." All human sound stopped, Ezio looked at his comrades before looking back at Anker.

"W-what?"

"You heard me boy, Rhea has been chosen to be the one and only successor to the Masters of our division of the brotherhood. Zealotes had died of sickness while myself and the other master wish to spend our last days with our still breathing wives." Anker said, he rubbed his eyes before continuing on. "Rhea was our choice because she has shown the most promise of her generation, plus she has carved a new path for young girls in our brotherhood to follow. She will be a great leader and protector of the peace." The room was quiet again; the men didn't know quite what to say, they all knew they couldn't do much to keep Rhea here unless it was her choice.

"Alright, we'll look for her. I'm pretty sure that she will be happy to see you three." Ezio announced as he stood up. "La Volpe, can you consult your men to see if they've seen her?"

"I can see but I really don't think she will show up anyti-" One of La Volpe's thieves came rushing through the front door. He bowed to his master. "You have good time Pedro; I need you to see if any of the others have seen our Grecian friend."

"That won't be necessary La Volpe." The thief panted, his master gave him a quizzical look. "Please follow me." The assassin complied and followed the man to the main entrance, before they walked out Ezio heard an animal whining at the door; it sounded familiar but he couldn't place it. When the door opened, the men saw a familiar friend pacing back and forth. It was Hyperion, the poor dog looked like he hadn't eaten in days and was extremely stressed out. Ezio kneeled in front of the large mastiff. Sniffing him, Hyperion nudged the older man and dropped what was ever in his slobbery jowls in Ezio's hand. Ezio grimaced but looked at the item carefully, it was a piece of bloody cloth that had frayed edges as if it was pulled.

"What is it?" Fadi asked. Ezio rubbed the dog's neck as he stood up, the gears in his head turned as he flipped it over; seeing the embroidery jogged his memory. It was from the robe that he had let Rhea wear on their last mission, looking back at Hyperion the mastiff began rubbing himself at Ezio's legs before taking off to north. The mastiff stopped at the corner of the street and whined some more.

"It's Rhea, the woman is in trouble." Ezio ran over to a nearby stable and hopped on his horse to go after the dog. Apollo and Fadi looked at each other and mounted their own horses to follow. "Stay here if she manages to escape where ever she's being held. Hyperion obviously knows where she disappeared, we'll be back." Ezio kicked his horse into a canter to follow the mastiff.

* * *

Rhea's body gave out at the treatment done to it stopped, still bound to the pillar she rested her head and closed her eyes for the short amount of peace she was given out of pity. It was Rodrigo, but Lucrezia; why she didn't know for sure but she was grateful. The brother and sister fought as their father departed the room for the Castelo, Cesare finally left in a huff as his younger sister stayed behind to question the beaten assassin.

"You have some strong will assassin." Lucrezia commented. "I thought that you would have cracked by now." Rhea smirked to herself.

"Really, I've been in a situation like this before. But then again I'm surprised as well; how can you stand being with a brother who uses you like a worn doll." Rhea grinned harshly at the blonde woman, she knew what position she was in, but with Cesare not being there left her with some stretching room. The Borgia lady growled and took a club from the wall and struck Rhea in one of the open wounds on her side. The Grecian hissed in pain but kept herself from screaming again.

"You dare speak of Cesare and I like that! You have no respect for the one above you; you'll see assassin, when Cesare make me his queen I'll have you watch as your fellow assassins are killed before offing you as well." Lucrezia smirked at the thought, total power. Rhea laughed lightly as she shook her head.

"Lucrezia, I respect those above me; but I do not respect those who have no care for others than themselves and who let themselves be used as you are by your father and brother." Rhea calmly interjected.

"I told you to st-"

"How many marriages has your father made you go through? How many men has your brother killed that you actually loved? Tell me Lucrezia, do you actually care for the children you give birth to or would you cast them aside when you are made "queen"?"

"I love my children!"

"But who's to say that Cesare won't kill them to have his legacy with you? Have you thought of that, because from what I hear you don't give a damn about them; I only hear about the things you want for yourself."Rhea struck the woman with her harsh words as she rested head more comfortably on the pillar. Lucrezia was at a loss for words, not knowing what to say or do at this point. Rhea added another statement. "My mother died protecting me, but I don't think you would."

That was the last straw; the Spaniard woman cracked the back of her hand over Rhea's face and left the room in a huff with her eyes watering slightly. Rhea sighed in relief and began testing the shackles at her hands; the blood had not only made her wrists sticky but slippery as well. Working silently, Rhea forced her had folded palm through the metal shackles; she bit her lip to stiffen her grunts of pain until her fingers finally slipped through. Smiling to herself, Rhea reached into her pants and pulled out a stiletto knife she kept strapped to her hip and began to try to pick the lock on her left shackle. The constant "thunks" of metal slipping past metal aggravated the woman; she was never good at this, Apollo could to this in his sleep.

Rhea kept at it for a good five minutes until the wonderful clicking noise echoed quietly in the room as the shackle popped open. Grinning to herself, Rhea moved fast as she collected any small weapons that were left behind and a sword. Pan's flute reminded her of her current status as she looked down at her body, her shirt was ripped to shreds and would cause problems if she continued on like that. Thinking fast and spotting Ezio's old robe, Rhea took what was left of her shirt and tied it on her chest, leaving her stomach bare and vulnerable. Hissing as the cloth rubbed into her open wounds, the assassin grabbed the old rope and putting it on without closing it.

Putting her ear on the door, Rhea listened for anyone in the hallway; hearing nothing, Rhea grabbed the same whip Cesare had used on her and her hidden blades and exited the room. The stone hallway had high windows near the ceiling and torches at her eye level. This wasn't in the city, checking the hallway again Rhea went to the left to follow a patrol of some sort. She grunted as she tried to run, after being tortured for three days, this wasn't a good idea but Rhea wasn't going to wait for Ezio or anyone else to save her again.

As she continued to slink around the strong hold, the assassin's ears picked up on two men arguing in Spanish. Intrigued, Rhea followed the sound until she came to a door way, pressing herself into the wall she kept an eye out for guards as she listened to the conversation turn to a more familiar language.

"You told me that you didn't need this many men before! Cesare, there is only so much money I can make off of my slaves to support your cause. Do you have any idea how much profit and support I've lost from my suppliers? Not even the tribes in Africa are being reasonable now!" Alejandro! Rhea grinned to herself and rubbed her face clean of her make-up and blood as she listened in more.

"I didn't need this many men in the beginning, but with those damn assassins have been cutting down my captains all over the city. They have even cut down half of my generals; this wouldn't be a problem if you sent me proper supplies and well trained men instead of drooling over your slaves." Cesare barked back. Rhea could hear Alejandro take in a large amount of air through his nose, he was mad.

"You insolent dog, my trades is what keeps this place from falling under since your father has cut back on funds for your armies. You dare insult me, your higher up in this order? I do commend you for getting this much of Italy under the Templar order, but know your place in front of your superiors. I may answer to your father most of the time, but you will answer to me if you want your funds and supplies. Besides those men I send are to be trained by you in our agreement Cesare." Alejandro boomed. "Now unless you have anything that I would call interesting, I'm leaving." Hearing the shuffle of cloth, Alejandro sounded as if he was getting ready to leave.

"Wait." There was a pause.

"What?"

"I captured the daughter of Theia and Stephano Accollo. She's just down the hall Sire." Rhea could hear the smirk in his voice, but she chuckled evilly. Not anymore.

"You better not lie boy, that woman has slipped past my fingers twice. I will not tolerate any nonsense about my greatest enemy's child."

"I assure you, she is still recovering from her last beating for information. My only disappointment is that she didn't crack." Cesare reassured. Rhea's attention flickered away a bit as she heard the faint sound of combat. "We can visit her now if you please." The sound of combat got louder until and scout came barreling down the hallway that Rhea barely had any time to hide herself.

"Sir Cesare! The assassins have entered the fortress and are heading this way." The scout panted. Rhea listened again as she heard Cesare bark more orders and asked Alejandro to escape through the back after he left. There was an agreement as Cesare followed the scout, completely missing her, and went to confront the combat that was coming closer.

"RHEA!" That couldn't be, it sounded as if it was Fadi. Not thinking twice, Rhea unsheathed her sword and swung it at the man rushing to escape the room she was stationed outside of. Metal clashed with metal as Alejandro barley blocked her attack, he glared at the woman in the dark as he used his strength to push her back into the light.

"Who are you?" Up close, Alejandro sounded a lot older than she remembered. Once she was in the light the Spaniard froze; Rhea was smirking gleefully, her eyes shining a harsh ice blue.

"Come on Alejandro, you surprised to see me out of my cell? Can't believe you thought I was going to stay in that place for very long." Her smirk turned to a frown.

"Can't say I recognized you at first, but the resemblance to your father with those eyes is identical. Both you and he share that ice heart when out on the field. Tell me little Owl, you plan to exact revenge?" Alejandro sneered as they both used their strength to overpower the other.

"No, I'm here to exact vengeance for my people." Rhea placed her right foot on the wall behind her and pushed with it forward. Alejandro was forced back and struggled to keep countering Rhea's attacks with her speed. The two went back and forth, sending jabs at each other and forcing each other back down the hall.

Sadly, Rhea's adrenaline began to wear off and her open wounds began bleeding again. Grunting Rhea countered an attack the Spaniard had thrown at her, she had spun and around to block it but that was her fatal mistake. During the torture and her fight, Rhea's hair had come out of her bun a bit; seeing that chance, Alejandro grabbed her long thick hair and yanked back as hard as he could. Rhea squealed in pain as her head was pulled back harshly by her hair and froze when a too familiar object was put to her throat. The man grinned as he dug the sword a little bit into her neck drawing blood, Rhea struggled to not move around too much risking instant death.

"I was going to take you back with me, but you're too dangerous at this point in your life. I'll enjoy the look your friend will share when they see your corpse." The man chuckled as he dug the sword a little harder. Knowing her pride and her hair was holding her back, Rhea dropped her sword and took one of the daggers and choppily cut her hair where Alejandro's missing fingers would be. To keep herself from decapitating herself, Rhea used her left bracer to push herself under the sword and away from the Templar. Unleashing her hidden blades, Rhea grinned at the man; seeing no other option, Alejandro ran down the hall towards the oncoming combat. "Guards! GUARDS!" Rhea only chuckled as she took off after him.

* * *

Ezio and the two Greek assassins were in the middle of taking down the swarms of guards that were coming at them from both sides. He had heard something further down the hall, but he had to ignore it to keep himself from being hit. Ezio growled as another guard popped up as he just killed the two in front of him with his hidden blades. The sound of a man yelling for reinforcements echoed down the hallway as a man several years senior to the master assassin. Ezio heard Fadi growl "Alejandro" as the Arabic man gripped his broadsword even harder and took out two Borgia soldiers at once. Ezio then remembered, this was the man Rhea had told him about, the man who destroyed her home and tortured her back in Venice. His blood boiled as he cut through more enemies so he could kill that man.

A sudden figure that was racing behind Alejandro caught his attention and the other assassins as the torchlight brought it into focus. It was Rhea, barley wearing anything to cover her upper body; moving with her legendary speed, the woman jumped onto the wall when she gained enough speed and launched herself at the fleeing man. Time seemed to slowly as Rhea overtook the man and slammed her hidden blade into his skull. Time then caught up as Rhea landed with enough force that her hand slammed the Templar's head on the stone floor so hard that a loud crack echoed in the hallway. Ezio and the others finished off the remaining guards as Rhea quickly did a smaller prayer for judgment on the now deceased soul.

"Rhea!" Apollo and Fadi rushed up to their friend and hugged her tightly, the woman hissed and violently batted them away from her with her hands. She chuckled lightly and locked gazes with the only Italian left alive in the room. Ezio only looked at her in shock, yes her chest was covered, but with her stomach bare Ezio could see the edge marks of lacerations on her back. Even though Ezio was angered by the Templar's treatment to her, he couldn't help but smile when he saw his old robe engulfing her upper body. Being gentle, Ezio embraced her and placed his forehead on the crook of her neck; the familiar smell of blood and sweat mingled with her own personal scent filled his nose.

"It's good to have you back," He pulled back and looked into her beautiful ocean blue eyes. "let's go and get you fixed up Rhea." Rhea smiled warmly.

"That's the best thing I've heard in the past three days." She walked past the assassin, following the trail of dead bodies to the entrance. In mid stride Rhea turned her head back to Ezio. "Oh Ezio, about time you picked up on the clues." The man shook his head as he jogged up to her side. The two assassins from the Greek brotherhood looked at each other in confusion and shrugged their shoulders before running to catch up to the two "friends".

As they reached the door, Rhea's vision began to blur; her steps became sloppy before Ezio caught her. Groaning, Rhea ran her hand through her now short hair and clutched onto the man holding her. Ezio helped her up the trapdoor and into the field and looked to Fadi and Apollo for help. Fadi helped keep Rhea standing as Apollo went to collect the horse. Rhea groaned some more as she left heat leave her body and into the cold air of winter. Ezio closed his old robe and began rubbing her arms as she groaned instructions.

"Fadi."

"Rhea, what is it?" Fadi began rubbing her shoulders to add more heat to her body.

"Listen, go to a house east of here. In the top bedroom, under the bed is a rug. Open the trapdoor under it and grabbed the chest inside; don't open it because the robe of Aphrodite is in it. –_wheeze_- I still haven't located the hearth of Hestia; but once you have the chest, grab a stack of letters on my desk and set the house on fire. Nothing is to stay." Rhea grunted in pain as she finished her instructions. Fadi nodded and took his horse and repeated her instructions to Apollo.

"Ezio will you be alright by yourself?" Apollo asked, he was more concerned for his injured teammate but none the less worried.

"I can manage it easily; just do what she said quickly."Ezio replied boosting Rhea onto his horse. He then climbed up behind her and made sure that she wasn't going to fall off. Kicking his horse into a brisk canter, Ezio held onto the fading woman with his dominant arm as he maneuvered around citizens to get to Timber Island as fast as possible. With only two incidents of knocking guards over and chasing him, Ezio luckily made it with no casualties. Rhea's head rolled back as she was teetering on the edge of consciousness; the assassin panicked as he pulled her off the horse and carried her bridal side into the hideout. Machiavelli and La Volpe stood from their seats as he came rushing down the stairs. Spotting them he called to them as he took her into his room. "Get the doctore, she needs to be taken care of now!" The thief lord rushed off to get the doctor while Machiavelli went to get Anker.

Ezio had to kick his door open since Rhea was in his arms; the doctor soon came in with La Volpe behind him.

"Quick, set her on the bed. Signore, I'm going to need you to keep her in a sitting position and hold on to her so she won't squirm." The assassin nodded and carefully sat himself on his bed and held Rhea in his arms as he sat her up. Sensing movement, Rhea blindly hugged onto Ezio's body for support and attempted to rest. Sadly for this operation they couldn't let her do that; the doctor had the male assassin help him peel the blood soaked robe off of Rhea's body as gently as possible. She hissed as the cloth was detached from her open wounds and air hit them. The doctor kept on working on untying Rhea's "shirt", but Ezio saw La Volpe's eyes widen at the damage done to the woman. Curious, Ezio peered over her shoulder and had a similar response to the thief.

The old lacerations from her last time in the hands of the Templars were split open with more "X"s decorating her back. Then again she had spent three days compared to the twenty four hours she was in Venice; but it horrified of how much Cesare had done to her. The doctor poked and prodded certain area of her back and shook his mask covered face.

"You'll have to bear with the next thing I'll have to do to her. Ezio get a good grip on her and hold her tight. I need to cauterize her wounds." The doctor instructed as he gently washed her back with water mixed with herbs, Rhea hissed again and dug her nails into Ezio's back armor. Ezio complied and did what he thought was the best idea; taking her legs, Ezio had Rhea basically straddle him as he placed his right at the base of her neck and the base of her back where there were no wounds. Pushing her soft body in his armored, Ezio held onto her as if it meant death. Machiavelli came into the room with Rhea's old master behind him; the philosopher looked at the wound as the doctor took off his mask so he could really see what he was doing. Taking a six inches metal rod that was now glowing in a coarse leather cloth, he quickly placed the metal rod to Rhea's back to seal the cuts.

Rhea screamed with intensity that Ezio never heard before, the woman tried as much as she could to shy away from the doctor who burning her by pressing herself into Ezio. The scent of burning flesh quickly filled the room, making everyone but the doctor want to gag or vomit; Rhea's face streamed with tears as she tried to get away. Ezio kept on keeping her in place, holding her tighter and tighter as the doctor goes again and again to seal up the largest of the wounds. Rhea had stopped screaming at one point and just bit into the shoulder that wasn't covered in armor; Ezio had filched when Rhea had done that but kept her there. When the doctor pulled away for the last time, Rhea was whispering something foreign, it sounded as if she was begging.

"Alright, all I need to do is apply a slave and bandage her up. A few days of rest and she'll be just fine." The doctor applied some awful smelling green goop and bandaged her torso and chest completely. Ezio had to help as well, Rhea was limp at this point from all of the pain, but he could deal with helping her out. The other men left except for Anker, he stood still, carefully watching the doctor help the Italian assassin into another room for her to sleep. When Ezio returned, Anker stopped him.

"You alright, it seems that she may have gotten you pretty hard." The old Persian joked. Ezio looked at the old man and then his bed, which now had a defiant spot where they had just operated. The two men left the room to allow the servants they did have here to clean up the mess; they walked slowly back to the main room talking lightly.

"Yes she did." Ezio paused. "Are you going to force Rhea home?"

"No we aren't, but Rhea will most likely come on her own. She feels that she owes the brotherhood her life since we have done so much for her, but in reality Ezio, we owe her." Anker sighed as they walked into the sanctuary. "Rhea has brought so many people hope with her skill, but mostly her heart. Through thick and thin she's trudged through cultural and physical challenges that we as men set on women; and she has always come out sane."

"I believe that she is strong, she's proven it; but I worry. Especially with how she goes around on missions." Ezio chuckled. "I think the woman thinks she is invincible, she wears no armor what so ever and goes into fights that she shouldn't. Rhea is insane, but a great friend." The men then moved back to the main room to find Fadi and Apollo covered in soot, blood and sweat with a chest between them.

"About time you got here." Anker scolded. The assassins looked at their master and shrugged casually as they unceremoniously set the chest on the map table. As Rhea had instructed, the chest was left alone for the fear of what the hell the item inside would do. Ezio, by that time, had sent the two assassins out again with a few of his own to where he suspected the hearth was housed in an old Romulas hideout. Before Fadi left he handed Ezio the packet of letters Rhea had mentioned, with a curt nod, the Arabian left with no complaint. Tired and ready to sleep, Ezio sat down by the fire as Anker went to his guest room to sleep.

* * *

Ezio examined the letters a bit more, thinking that they were addressed to Rhea when in fact they were addressed to him. The parchment the letters were written on were yellowed, and slowly he opened the first one. With Hyperion happily knowing on the bone from his dinner at the assassin's feet, Ezio read through each and everyone; the first ten he remembered, but the rest were the ones Leonardo had received for him but he never read.

Stories of her training, her home country, and the people in the Greek brotherhood. All of them that he never read were all there; and as he read on through them, he noticed how the tone changed drastically changed in one before slowing returning to normal for her. Hours had flown by and Ezio had finally reached the last letter, tired he opened the letter and was surprised at the short length.

_Dear Ezio,_

_I've noticed the lack of responses that you have produced, in which I'm not surprised. You've let the revenge of your family's honor taken a hold of you; but try to break free, vengeance and revenge are separated by a fine line and I wish for you to discover it and step into the more honorable one. Many things have happened to me that I want to share with you if we ever meet again, but there is one more thing I have to tell you before my heart changes._

_I know there has been many women in your life who you have captured their hearts, I just want to tell you that I indeed. I love you._

_ With the best wishes to your blade,_

_ Rhea Accollo_

Ezio was shocked when he read that last line, he nearly dropped the paper but caught himself before he could. He looked down at the dog that was happily napping on his feet. Sliding his greaves from under the dog he gave Hyperion a funny look. "Did you know about this?"

All the mastiff did was look at him with his droopy tired eye and go back to sleep on the stone floor. The man sighed heavily as he trudged back upstairs to his now clean room; few people were still up at this hour and Ezio now preferred that everyone would go to sleep. Fadi was going back to his room, and with his hood down Ezio finally saw the man's face and short brown hair. He was defiantly younger than the Italian but older than his female counterpart. Thinking he knew Rhea the best, the master assassin stopped him.

"Fadi."

"Oh Ezio, what can I do for you brother?" Fadi apparently talked similar to what Altair did way back when; now it showed.

"I have a small question about Fu-Rhea. I was reading some of the letters she had sent to me that I had never read until now." Ezio began.

"Yes, I remember her writing them when we were still new to the order." Fadi grinned at the memory. "What about them?"

"Well I noticed one of them to be very different than the others in the way she wrote, as if she had encountered something bad. I was wondering if you knew what had happened." Fadi thought for a moment. "The letter was dated back seven years" Fadi looked grim in the face after that statement.

"That year," Fadi breathed heavily. "that year Rhea was completing her courtesan training of information gathering and deception of the eye. A fellow girl was sent under the masters' orders to infiltrate and gather important information. The mistress had wished against it, but the masters held strong to their decision and sent the girl anyway. They had gotten the information with no problem, it's just they-" Fadi had chocked at this part but kept on going. "The men the girl was supposed to get information from, what we thought were honorable men drugged the two girls and raped them." Fadi had to stop for a breath before continuing. "The actual courtesan girl died of diseases when we had gotten her back."

"Is that why-"

"Rhea was so distraught after that, and she even had nightmares about the same thing happening to her. Rhea was so jumpy about men after that, she knew we weren't going to hurt her but she still flipped put during missions until Anker finally got her to fight against all of the men who were higher levels of experience than her to prove she could fight and live. Rhea only focused on her work and nothing else." Fadi smiled solemnly. "Promise me one thing Ezio, the next time you see her; treat her with the kindness and love that she deserves from an old friend like you." Fadi then returned to his room with a simple goodnight. Ezio thought for a bit and returned to his room for a well needed rest.

* * *

The next two weeks had come and gone and the assassins from Greece were packing up to leave the next evening. When Rhea had awoken from her slumber, she was fed and told of her new position to take. Everyone had watched as she thought about it silently and answered yes, only looking at Ezio, Machiavelli, Bartemello and La Volpe once. Sighs were released at the moment and people left to leave the woman in peace. Ezio had stayed behind; and the first thing he did was sit on the side of her bed and talking with her. Rhea greatly enjoyed it and even sarcastically apologized for her deception for a third time; they would sit for hours talking. Ezio mostly asking the questions and Rhea sharing the lengthy stories of home, but the impending date was the next day and Rhea was up and about packing what new clothes she had and her old equipment in two trunks. Her back had healed nicely, letting her go without the large amounts of bandages on her torso.

But what was bothering her the most was the dream she had last night. It was Athena again, thanking her for what she had done and apologizing for lying about Pan's flute not being a piece of Eden. Apparently it was all a big charade to get her to Roma to retrieve the hearth and the robe. Rhea had grumbled for a good while before smiling and thanking the goddess for her trickery; with that she saw the legendary woman fade away and the images of her parents' ghostly images shining in the swirly light.

Hyperion was lazing on the made bed as the sun began to set and slept on the blankets that kept out the cold. Smiling at the dog, Rhea nudged him off the bed and out the door so he could do his business before coming back inside. Rubbing her eyes gently, the woman took a seat on the edge of her bed; she didn't know wither or not she should be happy or disappointed with herself. Whatever it was her thoughts were interrupted when a familiar face walked in.

"Ezio." He wasn't wearing his assassin's robes today.

"Rhea…how are you doing?"

"Eh, it could be better; but I can't ask for much but a warm goodbye." Rhea smiled warmly; she gazed into the flames of her fireplace, she wanted to avoid his honey brown eyes. Ezio looked the ceiling before setting himself next to her on the bed with a large box in his lap.

"Tomorrow is your birthday isn't it?" Ezio looked at her short pixie hair that one of the girls had fixed for her. She reminded him of that time when she was rolling in the mud with another child over a doll.

"Yes," Rhea croaked. "I'll be 33 when we arrive at the island. My god I'm getting old."

"Not as old as I am." Rhea laughed at that and hugged him briefly. "Anyway, before you leave I have a present from everyone who is in our order here to you." Rhea looked at it quizzically and took the box. She opened it slowly, seeing a small card from Leonardo and reading that before continuing on.

Ezio reveled in the expression that grew over Rhea's face; she beamed happily as the pulled pull out a light weight metal chest piece and leg protectors. On the armor were etched designs of the brotherhood and the designs that were apparently on the pieces of Eden. And finally on the center was the assassin symbol, smiling Rhea put the armor back.

"Leonardo told me that even though it is very light weight, it will still be able to protect you like the armor I have. It will reduce on your speed, but you will be less prone to being stabbed." Ezio rubbed her shoulder.

"Thank you." Rhea stood and carried her present to sit with her trunks for the next day. Ezio looked at the fire.

"I read the letters that you had sent me over the years." Rhea cringed at that thought. She heard Ezio lightly laugh. "And I have to tell you, I was I read them when you had sent them to me."

"You were busy Ezio." Rhea replied.

"I was being stupidly busy, your letters could have made my life a bit more bearable if I had stopped being clouded by revenge. Rhea, I had hurt people around me and even gotten hurt in the process by a woman I thought who loved me. I'm sorry." Rhea didn't reply, she only stood tall and clean her hands on her ebony dress. There was an awkward pause, and this made Ezio feel like a teenager again; Rhea had no real experience with relationships and she obviously didn't know how to react. "I read the last letter you ever wrote me, and all I was to know is if you still feel that way for me." Another empty pause. Ezio was ready to leave the woman to her thoughts, thinking he had pushed her too hard too quickly. Ezio stood to leave.

"I have this feeling," Ezio stopped in his spot as a quavering voice came from the woman. "I had it after I truly got to know you in Venice. I don't know where or when it happened, it just did." She turned around to face him, but with her head bent looking at her hands. She moved them over her heart. "I feel as if thousands of birds are flying around in my chest, and I can't do anything to stop it." Tears started roll down rosy scared cheeks. "And I know none of us could ever be happy in our profession, but all I want is for the both of us to find our own happiness. And I wish someone else could take the position of Grand master, but they can't.

"Assassins can never finding love without the risk of losing it." Ezio looked at her with something as well, she was crumbling…for him…for just this one night. "Promise me after this you'll find happiness."

"I promise." Ezio cupped her right cheek in his hand and rubbed his thumb, whipping up any tears that fell down her cheek. "But now I want to give you my personal gift, I want to break you of your bond." Rhea looked up at him with the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen; crystal blue-green. Placing one hand at the back of her head and at the small of her back, he drew her in and kissed her back with something that may never be risen from his and her heart again.


	10. The eyes are cleared

**Author's note: hee hee hee, I'm sorry that it's taken me a loooooooong time to update, between school and forcing myself to write this chapter in the deprived privacy of my dorm it has been extremely hard to read this. And you will notice something, there is denfinatly going to be ONE MORE CHAPTER after this one. I know I had said that this one may be the last but I know the next chapter (I will try to write it over the break) and you'll see how much I love how Rhea has turned out. OH changes to the story, if you go back to chapter 8, and I'll say it here as well, I changed the fact that Rhea was raped, she never was but a friend of hers was and died from it. I wanted to put that out. So from now on I am going to try One-shots for video games, if you have an idea, just PM me ideas, I need some for the break.**

**Please enjoy, Rhea belongs to me along with the Grecian assassins, everyone else belongs to UBIsoft!**

**CAUTION: If you do not like anything above the level of MAKING OUT you can skip this chapter till the line break...really if you don't like it skip it I won't get offended...jerks (J/K). And this is my FIRST Lemonish writing, really its not as detailed as a good friend of mine who read this can write...read her stuff for the good smut. :)  
**

Rhea wasn't going to lie, she was terrified at first, but the more she and Ezio touched…by God her fears were washed away like the sand on a beach. Her beach; those pure white sands that awarded the men and women who came home from a journey on the sea, her homeland.

Ezio broke their kiss and traveled down to the junction of her should and her neck to nip and suck on her tanned flesh as his hands roamed to the back of her dress to the lacings. The female assassin sighed in pleasure as her male counterpart pulled her closer to him to get at the lower lacings with some haste, Rhea couldn't help but chuckle as Ezio growled at the laces keeping her clothed. Ezio retaliated her chuckle by nipping at her ear lobe, smirking as a groaned left the Greek woman's lips as she arched gracefully. Both assassins pulled apart from each other, staring each other in the eye as the ocean met land, Ezio's brown eyes called the waves within Rhea's heart as he gently guided her backwards to her bed.

When Rhea sat down her dress began to fall from her body, leaving her upper arms bare, and revealing the beginning of her scars. Ezio gently ran his hand over the back of her right shoulder and felt numerous tiny circles and thin slash scars; pity reached his mind, the master assassin knew that these were only the beginning of a larger picture that formed this woman. Rhea's gaze flickered to her door, it was slightly ajar and anyone walking by could easily steal a glance if they wished. "Ezio, you forgot to close the door." Rhea stifled a laugh as the man looked shocked as he rushed to shut the door. She even began breaking out in laughter when she heard chuckles from a familiar fox from outside their door; Rhea couldn't help but flop on her back as the hilarity of the issue became clearer. Ezio locked the door this time and huffed at the laughing woman clutching her stomach from his immature growls of annoyance mood changing at the drop of a hat. Chucking himself, Ezio walked up to the bed and took Rhea's hands in his and kissing each of her palms. Rhea's laughs stopped and happy sighs replaced them as he pulled her back into a sitting position.

Placing her palm on his beard cheek, Ezio leaned down to take another kiss from Rhea. She gladly gave her passion, and opened her mouth when he asked for entrance. Even at her age, Rhea was new to this and timidly followed Ezio example; Ezio slowly began to undo the buckles of his doublet and kneel on the edge of the bed, straddling Rhea in the process. Slipping her hands from his, Rhea assisted Ezio by slipping off his doublet and lifting his shirt above his head. Rhea ghosted her long fingers from his chest, down his abdomen and to the edge of his pants. Ezio quirked an eyebrow at the woman as she tugged a bit at the hem.

"Getting ahead of ourselves are we?" He asked as he pulled away from her lips, his voice obviously lower from the hormones rushing through him and to draw out the desire that was bubbling inside the woman below him. "Because I think you're the one who's over dressed." It was Rhea's turn to quirk an eyebrow.

"Oh really Ezio, you think I'm going to let you have at me so easily?" Rhea's voice had also changed, her unused hormones starting to flood her blood. "You are going to have to try something better than making me feel guilty to take of this dress." She couldn't understand why she was like this, challenging Ezio and ready to welcome whatever that man had up his sleeve. Ezio's smirk grew as he bent down to kiss her again, but this time with more fire behind it. It did shock Rhea, even so, she did recover and refuse Ezio entrance to her mouth when he asked. Rhea ran her hands up and down the sides of Ezio torso, letting her fingers learn the rises and falls that the muscles he had obtained over the years under his skin. The grand master took that challenge scooped Rhea from her behind and pushed their clothed cores together; it was a risk, for last time this had happened, Rhea was about to be raped in a assassination. Rhea had a completely different reaction from fear, she moaned loudly and gave Ezio the chance to slither his warm tongue into her mouth as Rhea wrapped her legs around his hips to bring them closer together.

This time it was Ezio's turn to have his hands roam her body, he took great pleasure in pushing her dress down her shoulders and arms so that her upper body was free from her outer clothing. Ezio continued to undress Rhea as he removed her chest bindings and caressed her back. Rhea moaned again as Ezio continued to assault her mouth, her mind and body were sending off so many signals that were confusing her usual logic to such a degree that Rhea's natural instinct came into play as Ezio began caressing the skin under breasts. When he finally took action, Rhea's body froze as her breath hitched; but Ezio continued to fondle her right breast with his right hand as the other traveled lower and lower her stomach and into her dress.

Using her weight Rhea pulled Ezio down so that she was laying down again, she pulled away to look at him with her glowing blues eyes, the firelight reflected and showed his skin beautifully that Rhea's arousal began to increase just by the sight of him. Ezio opened his eye to gaze down at the half naked woman below him, the flickering light did complement her body with its shadows and light, but it did show Ezio the horrors that she had endured when he finally looked down. Stab wounds, whip wounds and a strange set of wounds that arranged themselves in a semi circle pattern along her front and her back when he traced them. He opened his mouth to speak, but Rhea stopped him with the hand and nuzzled into the nape of his neck.

"Ezio, I've lived with them for so many years that they are a part of who I am. I am not ashamed but proud that I have them; they show that I have survived and will continue to survive. So please don't pity my marks but cherish the fact that they show and celebrate my life." Rhea finished by finding his jugular and sucking on the pulse. Ezio groaned at the woman's action, knowing that she learned that somewhere, and continued to push her dress off her body. And in one action, Rhea's dress and the rest of her unclothes came off, leaving her heated body to the open air. Ezio had to force Rhea's legs off of his hips so he could remove her clothing, and had smiled when she whimpered at the loss of contact, but now he reveled in the sight of the naked woman in front of him as he had her lay all the way down on her back. Her short hair lay in the messy curls that they were around her head, her arms spread apart from her body as they grabbed for the sheet under them, and her face and chest glowing in the blush of arousal as she watched his gaze travel lower and lower to the apex of her body. "Ezio" She breathed when he shifted his body off the bed to kneel on the floor. Ezio reassured her by rubbing her thighs gently before nudging them apart; she did comply slowly until Ezio believed he had her legs apart at the right angle. He moved his hand up her left thigh and stopped when he felt something abnormal; he lifted his hand and saw the brand mark. The woman under him stilled when she felt that he did.

"Bella…" Ezio looked back up to Rhea's face to see she had positioned her head to face the back wall. Crawling back up her body the assassin took her chin gently and pulled her to face him, and kiss her again softly before crawling back down her body again. Slowly and cautiously he touched the symbol in her skin with his calloused hands before kissing the marred skin. Rhea inhaled sharply before relaxing again, Ezio carefully teased her skin as he moved his hand closer and closer to her core as he attempted to distract her mind. And she was, her senses being overloaded by her hormones to make the outside world disappear from her conscious; but when Ezio's fingers can in contact with her core, just a ghosting touch, Rhea yelped in surprise and grabbed at his shoulders. The male assassin continued his ministrations and used his other hand to remove the rest of his clothing, and the sorts of noises Rhea was making was only stroking his ego even more. Rhea's blushing skin continued to glow in the dying firelight and moonlight as he used more pressure with his fingers to get more sounds out of Rhea's mouth. But as he continued to do so, Rhea grew quieter and quieter, repressing her urges to yell out her urges the more Ezio pushed her; seeing a hitch, Ezio leaned forward so that his mouth was next to her ear. "Rhea, don't hold in such emotions." He paused to nibble on her ear lobe as he began to sink a finger into her, her head shot back in pleasure as a strangled gasp tried to escape. Ezio knew he was getting to her, so he continued.

"A woman with your beauty," He traveled down to her shoulder to nip at it before going to her left breast to tease it as he continued to talk. "Should not be worried to let out such sweet sounds pass through her lips." He nipped again and traveled even lower where he could see her fluids dripping down his hand, this woman was extremely aroused. "For they are the music of the night." He then fully sunk two of his fingers into her till they reached the knuckle and took her pearl into his mouth to bombard her with waves of pleasure. Rhea shrieked as she fisted the sheets till her hands were white, not caring anymore, she was being pleasured and she was going to enjoy it God Damn it! Rhea panted heavily as Ezio continued to lick that bundle of nerves while pumping his fingers in and out of her, she tried to catch her breath as that coil in her lower abdomen tightened to the point where it seemed to be painfully to hold it in any longer.

Star flashed in front of her eyes as she screamed again, this time her body wanting to lift off of the bed. Ezio held her hips down with one hand as he caressed her one last time, he sat up, easily removing his fingers from her and licking off any liquid left on them. A soft glow emitted from Rhea, as he hazily looked up at him through the hair that managed to fall in front of her clouded blues eyes; she smiled up at him as she caught her breath through long breathes that moved her bare chest up and down in a hypnotizing way. Smiling back, Ezio positioned himself and looked into her eyes with a concerned look; he was giving her one last chance before she would turn back, the man was so aroused it would be hard for him to want to stop.

"Ezio, if you don't do it now…I swear to whatever god I will never let you live this down." Ezio made a face at her. "Just go, please." With those last word whispered, Ezio pushed in slowly, stopping as Rhea's eyes widened with surprise, but moved again as she groaned happily. Ezio tried to go slowly, for Rhea's sake, but he felt no barrier that (it probably broke from fighting and running around most of her life) and he was losing his resolve from slamming the rest of the way in. And Rhea seemed to have the same mentality, as she tried to pull him into her by wrapping her shaped legs around his hips and push him in. This woman was not patient if it meant her hormones escalating her senses, and the little noises that she was making; by god the feminine begging whimpers that came out of this woman, it was driving him to the edge. He hadn't had a real woman that didn't work at the Rosa in YEARS, years and the most hard ass woman he had ever known was under him, her body **BEGGING** for him to continue the art that he knew so well, and take her to a place she may never visit again. And he was not one to displease.

Ezio pleasure the other spots on her body and Rhea could not be happier. The sighed laced with the sweetest mewl caused his member to twitch in delight inside her supple body that tried to suck him in further. Not waiting at all, Ezio began to slowly pull in and out of her before picking up the pace so that the two of them came to their own rhythm of skin hitting skin. The master took her hips into his hands and lifted them so he could hit a new angle within Rhea; she let out a strangled yelp as he was hitting the correct spots. Breathing heavily, Rhea took her own hand and began to stroke his abdomen with those ghost touches till she reached to where they were joined. Her wandering hand joined her resting one as she whimpered again and rolled her hips in a taunting fashion.

"Ezio, f-faster." He complied, smirking at the woman's adorable yet seductive sounds as they increased in volume again.

"For tonight, your wish is my command." Ezio replied as he turned up the speed even more. He had years of experience in this department and he knew how to get a woman begging for more and more; and this situation with this woman was no exception. Rhea tried to ask him for more pressure, but only moans came out as Ezio beat her to the chase and hit that one spot with more pressure. Soon the two of them were using what energy they had to please to other, with Ezio's flesh being clamped by Rhea's, he could tell she was getting close, but so was he and he needed to increase the pleasure. Moving one hand to her lower back and the other to her shoulder blades, in one motioned Ezio assumed a sitting position and lifted Rhea up to lean on him.

The female assassin had stopped breathing, the waves of pleasure that went up and down her spine were unbearable, but she wanted to continue the wonderful feelings as she moved her body up and down as her instincts took over, her own mouth preoccupied as she suckled and nibble on his jugular. Ezio groaned when Rhea's warm tongue hit his heated flesh, the actions that the Greek woman was doing to him urged him on to be rougher and faster with her as she removed her mouth and blew onto his moistened flesh gently. Ezio reached between them and began rubbing that bundle of nerves again to bring her closer to the edge again. Pulling Ezio into a searing kiss, Rhea felt that coil being pulled tight until all reserves broke free and stars filled her field of vision again, pulling away from the man in front of her to arch her body in a beautiful curve. Ezio groaned as her flesh clamped down on his thrusted a few more times before reaching his own peak.

Feeling her body go limp, Ezio gently set Rhea down on her back and pulled out of her. The air held the scent of Sex and sweat that wasn't unpleasant, but relaxing. Ezio laid by Rhea's side and pulled her next to him, she happily snuggled into his warm embrace and drifted off to sleep the best birthday she has ever had in years. Ezio managed to pull the blankets of her bed over them with some maneuvering before drifting off to sleep.

Ezio awoke the next morning to feel Rhea gently trying to peel herself from him. He obliged and watched as Rhea walked to a bucket with cold water, a maid must have used one of the keys to drop it off, with the sunlight barley seeping through the windows Ezio could see the back side of Rhea. With so many stories to tell, Ezio kept quiet and watched as Rhea dabbed herself with a wet washcloth.

"You skin is glowing."

"It tends to happen after a woman has had a good night in bed." She chuckled as she turned her head to look at him; he lazily supported his head with one hand and smiled back. "But thank you, for the comment and for last night."

"Rhea, you needed a night to get rid of all of your stress." Ezio commented, "I was lucky to be the executor of that wonderful deed."

"Yes, and if only they would open male bordellos, women like me would be happy." Ezio laughed and sat up, the blankets keeping his bottom half covered.

"You care for another round?" Rhea turned back to face the wall and reached for an unlocked trunk and her new set of armor. "Or do you have to go?" Rhea hated how dejected Ezio sounded, even if he was joking. He did care for her, but not in a romantic way; and she realized last night that she didn't either. To her before, he was an object of desire that seemed like love, but she did care love him. Just not anymore, he wasn't that one person to hold her heart in his hand as she held his. Closing her eyes, breathing in deeply and stretching her arms, Rhea looked to the window to see the rising sun. A new morning; a new beginning.

"Ezio, you know I have to go." Rhea jeered, she slipped into a fresh set of clothes, a new tunic and began fastening her armor to her body. She heard him chuckle at her tone and pull on his pants before coming up to help her into her chest armor. Once fastened, Rhea tested the mobility of the metal and smiled in glee at the wide range it gave.

"I see you're enjoying it."

"Well it does work." The two assassins smiled and hugged each other tightly.

"I leave to find Cesare in two days, after I kill him I'm leaving for Masayf." Ezio suddenly said, Rhea placed her ear over his heart and listened to the calming sounds of his heart and breathing.

"Come visit me when you head back to Italy, and you better have a good woman with you."

"Rhea." Ezio groaned.

"No I get this one chance to make fun of your unmarried ass. Don't bring back a manipulative woman please." Ezio sighed and began to laugh internally.

"Fine, but the same applies to you. If you can find a man, then I can defiantly find a good woman." They pulled apart from each other and looked each other both in the eye.

"Deal." Ezio pulled her into for one last hug before lifting her new hood to cover her face; getting down on one knee, he kissed her hand.

"Good luck Madonna Rhea."

"Grazie Mentore." Rhea pulled Ezio up and left the room, looking back one last time before disappearing from his sight. A few novices came and grabbed the two trunks Rhea had and carried them out as Ezio pulled on his shirt. The familiar sound of a sword being sheathed, and a hidden blade being tested reached his ears before the retreating footsteps did. Looking at the retreating forms of their Greek brothers and sister, Ezio looked down at his hand as he clenched it into a fist.

"Rhea, I knew you'd be loud but I didn't see you as a screamer? How did Ezio pound you last night?"

"APPOLLO, YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS TILL YOU BECOME A EUNQIE THE PAINFUL WAY!"

He couldn't wait to see her again.

**My thanks to:**

**Ladyfrostblizzard:**I did update, and I'm so happy that you found this on a whim, sadly it is almost over...oh vell hope you like this chapter.

**SarahBeth24:  
**Thanks a again for reading this over when I finished this chapter, here it is again if you wish to read it! Love You girly, and Merry Christmas.

**The3rdJester:** You read this all in one go...wow I commend you for doing that. Thanks for the suggestion for help, but since this pretty much done I don't need it :) And thanks for liking Rhea for being Greek, being Greek rocks!


	11. The end is only the beginning

**A/N: OMG it's the last chapter! I'm so excited about this chapter, and I'm happy that this story ended on a good note. It has been a long journey and I can't wait to start writing one shots, though I may attempt a Dragon Age story. Any who, I would love any lasting comments on this last chapter and the story as a whole. I really do like how Rhea turned out to be as a woman and I hope you did too. *SNIFF* bye for now.**

**Disclaimer: Any Characters associated with the Assassin's Creed games belong to Ubisoft, but Rhea and the Greek assassins belong to me.**

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Over the next few years Rhea's plate had filled with the worst amount of stress that a sane person couldn't handle. It was as if the Templars were waiting for her to take her position of the leader of Greek assassins, for it was not a week after she settled into her new office in Athens that their enemies attacked their base and forced them out of Athens and south towards the Spartan territories. Though there were many casualties, Rhea had the entire order moved to her home Island were they began to rebuild what they had lost.

It was hard, and with all of the people under her who did question her abilities to run their order. But Fadi and Apollo stayed by her side as advisors whenever she needed them; life went on and the fight against the Templar order raged on for years.

When Rhea had learned that Ezio was in Istanbul, she immediately sent request for men and women for him to send to her aid. In which he did for the money she was sending him. At first the Greeks and the Turks could look past their grudges in the past for them to work together properly, Rhea took the problem in her own hands personally and went on the missions that were considered "unsuitable" or "under" her rank to prove to her underlings that she could work with them. It took months of doing this and getting stabbed whenever her men argued on the battlefield before they got their act together. She had even lost a few assassin who were swayed by the Templar order, which whom she saw to their takedown personally as well.

Athena had forced Rhea back into her old home, claiming that she didn't want such a big house, and helped turn the giant house into the new headquarters for the order. The revenue from the missions had turned the Island into a merchant hub and help build homes for the assassins and their families. But it wasn't until the end of the Templar reign that Rhea finally found happiness.

Rhea knew of Ezio's new fascination with a woman from Venice who owned a book shop in Istanbul, and she took great joy in bugging him through her letter that this woman was going to be his path to happiness. And then Ezio sent Mahir to help her. Mahir: Rhea first thought that Ezio sent him to her as a joke and to annoy her, the man was always able to help her with whatever she needed to get down and Fadi had even joked that the man would follow her around like a lost puppy. The woman had imagined of a cartoonish Ezio laughing at her annoyance with the assassin he KEPT on sending to her "aid", before having him permanently stationed in Greece.

It took time before Rhea had warmed up to him, underneath all of his "annoying" aspects as Athena would put it. Then again they were trapped in a ruin for a week and had to travel together in the dark as they found their way out. Of course this didn't happen before Rhea had snapped and took all of her anger out on the poor man, and he took it in silence as she vented about how everything was dumped on her shoulders and no one seemed to care that she was a woman and not some hard wired machine or God. Mahir, bless his heart, took everything she threw at him as they walked further into the ruins to find the surface. When they did, three days after her spazz attack, they were laughing as if they knew each other for years.

Rhea couldn't deny that Mahir wasn't all that bad looking, being only two years older than her, his skin was only a few shades darker than hers and stood at 6'4". And boy was he built, being a son of a privateer, his arms and chest…Athena would chastise her about staring when the man decided to train shirtless and near her study window. Both women would have to duck when he'd felt their gazes on him and turn to see them, Athena's daughter Hemera would snicker at them for acting like young love sick girls. But the young apothecary couldn't deny that the man was pleasing to the eyes. He kept his dark brown hair short but sported a well trimmed beard, and his piercing amber eyes( Rhea couldn't believe such a color existed); watching him train did attract the attention of other women, assassin or not, around the ring just to watch the muscles the man had work under his skin.

It wasn't until a year after being trapped in the ruins when Mahir started to act strangely, he avoided her when things got awkward for them and he constantly took on missions to Africa. Rhea first thought nothing of it, knowing that he loved going out to sea. But when it happened more often she worried that he was avoiding her because of a night during a festival when they both were extremely drunk to the point that they nearly slept with each other. Apparently they were just beginning to undress each other when she passed out from the alcohol in her system. Fadi had never let her down after that.

During the final battle for the liberation of Athens, the citizens of the city had fought the Templar oppression when the assassins laid siege to the city's strong holds to drive the men out. Rhea fought on the front lines with her men and drove their enemies to the sea for a second part of their plan. Once on their ships and leaving to the great blue, Nicolas and other Greek pirates around the area ambushed them and performed power magazines on two of the five ships. The fight was bloody, and once Rhea slew their leader on the last ship she was drenched in the blood of the Templar men. The trip back to port was full of cheers and the breaking out of confiscated wine from below deck.

When the last man stepped off the gangplank, the sun was beginning to set and the locals opened their arms to their saviors. Rhea stood back to watch everyone begin a long earned party, solemnly watching married couples and lovers find each other and embrace each other. The assassin leader was preparing to head her lodging when Mahir appeared from the crowd, he had been in charge of the eastern charge; he was pushing people out of the way as he rushed to where she was standing. That had attracted some unwanted attention, and the crowd had murmured when Mahir had stopped right in front of her blood splattered form. Mahir seemed to be glaring down at her, which bothered her until he kissed her fiercely. The crowd of assassins who worked under this woman for years, knowing that even though she was a fun person was a hard ass, shut up and waited for her to slap him. Rhea in fact closed her eyes and wrapped her arms behind the man's neck and drew him down so she could kiss back, not even caring that they were both covered in blood.

Athena was the first to cheer, and the others followed as Mahir picked up Rhea and had her legs wrap around his waist as he continued to kiss her. They broke apart to have the survivors of the battle cheering for them, and laugh when Mahir slung Rhea over his shoulder and run off to Rhea's lodgings for a bath and privacy. That night was the beginning of a new and happy part of Rhea's life, soon after their night together Mahir had asked for Rhea to marry him and in a few months they had a small ceremony mixing both countries together. Rhea, still being the leader of the assassins in her area, kept the order on her island, having them to be taught how to be privateers and such as well as aiding other orders in the Mediterranean as she kept up with Ezio's exploits in the east. When word reached her about what had happened and that Ezio was banished from Constantinople, She had own of her ship pick him and the woman Sophia before the Sultan could send anybody after them. It was long awaited but Rhea was ready to see her old friend again.

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Ezio and Sophia looked in awe at the Island they were approaching, a majority of the Island was still big fields of wheat and a winery, but the town was bustling with ships arriving and leaving from the port. Mahir had personally seen to the pickup of his Mentore and Sophia so they could safely reach the Island before being put on another ship to Italy. When the ship docked, the Turk told Ezio how to get to the order headquarters and left the couple to finish his duties in the port. Taking their time, since Ezio was still recovering from the injuries he had taken before leaving the east. Assassin's amongst the citizens of the Island nodded their head or bowed in respect to their Mentor before continuing what they were doing.

The trek was slow, since the two were calmly watching the wheat in the fields mimic the oceans waves as the wind blew over them, admiring the few horses scattered here and there. When they did reach the villa, Ezio recognized some of things that Rhea's letters to had described about the villa. It had a few flags on the building with the training area stretching to the western side of the building, and walking inside the building he paused at seeing the marble work that reminded him of the villa in Italy that he had lost. Seeing Rhea in the study he walked in to see her slightly hunched over some paper work with an aggravated look on her face. Hearing his armor clinking together Rhea looked up to see the couple standing at her doorway.

"Ezio, you old dog come in." Rhea said as she began shuffling papers together and into an envelope, her gaze landed on Sophia. Rhea quickly looked the red head over before returning her blue gaze to her old friend. "So this is the famous Sophia that has bewitched you with her intelligence and beauty Ezio. Yours and Claudia's letters didn't do her justice." Ezio groaned and rubbed his eyes at Rhea's joking tone, Sophia only chuckled and curtsied to Rhea.

"Ezio did speak of you too Madonna, it is a pleasure and an honor to see you." Sophia answered as Ezio got over his embarrassment.

"Please call me Rhea, Ms. Sophia it is an honor to meet the one woman to make this man happy. He has been my friend for the past twenty years and I'm more honored to meet you." Rhea smiled.

"You usually didn't say that about the other women I tended to associate myself with before Rhea that must be an awful taste in your mouth." Rhea scowled at the man as he laughed at her expression. "How are you liking your position?"

"I don't like all of the stress, but I do like being in charge of a cause that I know is right. Here, let me show you around." Rhea pushed back her chair and strained a bit as she stood up with her right hand at the small of her back to keep her balance. Ezio first noticed what Rhea was wearing, the black outer robe that he had seen in the illustrations of past assassin leaders and that fact that she was wearing a traditional Greek dressed. But what stood out to time the most was her belly, it was heavily swollen with pregnancy and it was obviously annoying the woman with her lost balance. Sophia had walked to Rhea's side to help Rhea steady herself. Even with their protests that Rhea should sit and with the protests of other assassins under Rhea, she just grabbed a staff and walked outside as if nothing was inhibiting her ability to walk. Her husband eventually joined them as they walked around the villa grounds. Stories were exchanged and laughs followed them, a calm feeling that the war with the Templars may be over for now washed over the four adults as they traveled back to the villa to get ready for dinner.

Ezio and Sophia stayed for two weeks before departing for Italy with money Rhea forced into Ezio's hands. With her child very close to being due, Rhea watched from her balcony to see Ezio and his new love travel to their native land. With one hand on her swollen belly, Rhea smiled at the good memories she had over the years, only to chuckle when her child kicked at her warm hand. Looking back to the retreating boat, her ocean colored eyes gazed into the sunset with prayers for Ezio's future along with hers.

The End

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**To my lovely Reviewers I appreciate all that you have done. :3 Hope to hear from you guys in the future.**


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